Dream Chaser
by headphone frenzy
Summary: At the end of it all, Guy begins having strange dreams, each one delving further into an ultimate abyss. Sync is his only beacon of light, but will the boy give the newest God-General the courage to chase this last, forsaken dream? SyncGuy. LukeAsch. THIS IS GOING TO BE MOVED TO MY NEW ACCOUNT, JUDITHAN, AS WELL AS REWRITTEN.
1. One

Dream chaser

(x)

Pairings: Sync x Guy, Luke x Asch, Jade x Dist, (slight) Luke x Guy, (slight) Natalia x Asch, Anise x Ion (It's cute, people!), and (_slight_, like _miniscule_) Guy x Peony.

Headphone does not own.

(x)

CHAPTER 1;

**Warning**: Major spoilers ahead, so if you haven't played through at _least_ once, don't complain! C:

The mirror Guy stared into was dirty.

The outer coat of the thin mirror was gritty and made his face look three shades darker and two tones filthier. The walls were a nasty old-hotel color, and the floor was almost identical to the vertical. Scents of rose and some sort of vulgar-smelling smoke, almost to the effect of gunpowder, filled Guy's nose, leaving it slightly wrinkled and displeased, and a large part of his brain wondered so vividly 'what am I forgetting'. After all, the rancid smell of smoke, of gunpowder, was a sign that trouble just happened, whether the blonde was harmed or heard. It was very odd for him to simply smell the scents of war without feeling the effects, without having visual aid.

'What was it?'

It all seemed so familiar, yet he couldn't lay a proper finger on it.

There was a sharp rap on the door, making the distracted blonde question roughly how long he had been spacing out, before simply ignoring the question itself to answer to the knocking. Taking no real initiative to care about thinking of a cover story, Guy opened the door with one flick of his wrist and saw a vaguely puzzled Luke. There was a small gap of awkwardness between the two, an uncomfortable sort of silence that completely engulfed them until it suddenly cracked onto the floor

"What were you doing in there?" Silence broken, but awkwardness increased tenfold. The tension between the blonde and redhead was thick enough that it could be cut with something that wasn't even _meant_ to make any sort of incision.

Guy simply shrugged slightly, and he could see the childish anger and displease that swelled in Luke's young green eyes. It pained and possibly even humiliated Guy in every way possible to have to see Luke with such complete ignorance and naïveté and have to obey the boy's every beck and call, no matter how stupid or juvenile. Though, no matter what dislike or disdain Guy held for the boy, there was some sort of awkward feeling in his gut saying 'ignore it, it'll all be better soon'.

"Well, whatever, get out. I need to piss." He said it with a cocky sort of grin.

Obliging wordlessly, the older male closed the door behind himself, stopping as he heard the click of the latch. His eyes darted around quickly, making his brain slightly dizzy with all of the new yet far too familiar and nauseating images and colors he was pulling in through tired retinas.

Without even thinking, without dropping a single beat, his legs took up the simple action of walking and his brain just zoned out until he reached his boring redwood door and frame. The stained yet spotless plaque opened quickly with every creak and cringe he could remember his door ever making, and he took little to no time in making his way to his bed.

The auburn throw pillows and maroon comforters looked so completely inadequate and bothersome that it wasn't even worth removing them before Guy could find him plopped down on it; face first, and legs up. His mind was dreary and half-asleep even though it was barely past dusk, past twilight, and past any sort of disgusting feeling of hate and wrath. The silken pillows were soft on his face, and the feather mattress curved with his exhausted body.

Apparently he was more tired then he thought he was, because as soon as he closed his eyes, sleep engulfed them with no chance of even the typical thoughts before the endless black that swallowed them whole as he rested peacefully. Surprisingly, though, instead of the typical endless blackness that was far too common, his eyes opened to some unknown room, with some unknown person hovering over Guy like he was some sort of prey, the silhouettes body half-straddling the blonde's hips. Guy couldn't hear anything, and he felt as though his mind was swimming, and there was something wrapped around his head and it hurt far too much to just be part of a dream. There wasn't much light in the room, and even if there was, the blonde would have been far too asleep to focus on a single object, no matter how blunt or miniscule.

"Oh good, you're awake." There was a small pause between their dialog before continuing, not allowing the confused male to even think of inquiry as an option.

"I don't have much time to talk, we need to go."

Their voice was choppy, rushed, yet at the same time soothing and careful. The person's hands were wobbly and rickety on Guys thin shoulders and the blonde could almost faintly hear the sound of some sort of beeping in the distance that sounded like a hollowed out version of a heartbeat. The entire place seemed like it was shaking, yet it was entirely still aside from the ridiculous thump of the male's heart beat and the adrenaline that rushed through his bones like some sort of awkward I.V.

"Who're you?" Guy slurred out, making himself sound retarded or just mental instead of tired and probably drugged with things he couldn't even pronounce. The shadow simply frowned, or what Guy assumed was a frown, and said nothing for a few seconds, opening a void for an empty, awkward silence to ensue and capture the air.

"It doesn't matter, we need to hurry."

After taking a patch off of the blonde's upper arm, Guy's wrist was suddenly latched onto, and the silhouette carried him out of his bed, sloppily to his feet, and to a crooked door. The air was silent and smelled like something had just died, and it made Guy want to rudely pinch his nose to block out the disgustingness. His feet slid on the floor, and he assumed there was a wax coating covering the whole thing, but it wouldn't have made much of a difference either way.

The guide simply held Guy's thin, boney wrist and led him down dark, almost eerie and all-too-quiet halls, making sure that he kept his feet light, and his breathing almost to the point of silent. Guy followed in suit, and tried to silence his heavy breathing, and his hefty steps, but failed almost miserably and just made a mess out of his balance.

"Where're we going?" the slurring blonde inquired, his eyes trying to take in the sites as they approached his retinas. Corridors and walls, empty rooms and the smell of death; Guy would have normally been able to put two and two together and figure out what everything was, and where he was going, and what was going on, but he was too asleep, too drugged, and too brain-dead to be bothered with such a demeaning and confusing task.

"Quiet." Guy simply did as he was told, and shut his mouth, and tried to look around at all of the sights. There was darkness everywhere, except for the occasional window that let in scattered patches of pallid moonlight. The walls were a silky shade of green, only done over nicely by a thick paste of dust with a hint of common-day rust. There was random bit of trash floating around the hallway, and the walls seemed to have permanent stains on it that gave Guy a bit of weariness over all of the cleaning that hadn't been done. The entire place seemed to hold this awkward feel of permanent vacancy, and it made the blonde only slightly wonder what he was doing in there in the first place.

The guide had lead Guy to a door, a large bronze frame covered with a sheet of green rust, and the glass in-between the frame covered with fingerprints and pits of dried paint with cracks and canyons. The door opened with an ear-ripping creak, making the silent night tear and making the cats in the alleys wake from there skittish slumbers. The air outside smelled of cigarette smoke and some sort of pollution. The lighting in the area in front of the building was only coming from a solo street light that hovered and flickered several yards above their ignorant heads.

"This way." The now-visible silhouette spoke almost silently, almost as though it was simply a mental note, and all Guy could now focus on was the green hair that spoke in so many tones. It stuck up in so many wild directions, and all the blonde could think about was that it looked so familiar, it looked as though he had seen it somewhere before, but he couldn't yet put a name on who it was. Then, his brain started to try to work, and the bandages around his forehead hurt. Then, an image popped into his head, innocent eyes, green ovals, a petite nose, and a heart-shaped face.

"Ion?" The blonde's voice was heavily laden with fear, yet at the same time, he felt relief at the fact that Ion himself was saving him from wherever he was before. In his personal opinion, the place they had just left looked like some sort of hell-hole done over with a nice coat of olive paint and a friendly case of trash and filth.

There was silence, aside from the clacking of shoes on the hard pavement, and the night itself seemed to turn with them as they curved quickly, ending up in a dark alley. The place smelled like musty socks, and some sort of over-expansion of mold, like some sort of rot had taken over that small, almost miniscule, part of city.

"This should give us enough time." They said quickly, and the lack of niceness in their tone told Guy that it wasn't, in fact, the deity of the Order of Lorelei, but someone else who looked and sounded so remarkably similar. They sounded innocent enough, yet completely serious, like there was some sort of something that was connecting this person to Ion, yet at the same time the captor and the naïve boy were two entirely separate people.

"Who are you?" Guy asked again, his voice now sounding a bit more like he was with the program and that the bandages around his head were _not_, in fact, cutting off all circulation to his brain. The other person just chuckled lightly, and the blonde traced over the slim shoulders and frame with his eyes as they moved up and down with the small laugh.

"Do you honestly give up?" They asked, refusing to turn around to face the confused blonde, and Guy knew somehow in his brain that with this one sentence, a spark would go off, and he would remember all the nights and days that he thought and dreamt about this one person. This _one person_ whose name -he feared- was taboo from his dreams. Guy just swallowed an awkward air bubble in his throat and tried to bring up the courage to say this one single word.

_Sync_.

"Tell me who you are." Guy didn't want to say the name aloud. He feared with every inch in his body that the moment he did, the figure would be cast away, and then, there would be no ending to this terrible yet wondrous story, dream, new reality, cruel illusion, any other synonym that could possibly rename this entirely awkward situation. The blonde shifted his weight to his other foot, and his eyes refused to focus in the dim light in the musty alley.

"I am Sync, your temporary savior." Sync turned around when he stated this, and Guy couldn't help but feel mildly awkward at the second half of the sentence, but he didn't try to process it too hard. His head hurt from the bandages, and every single thought that went into it was just one more thing that filled up and tightened his brain, that tightened the bandages and cut off all circulation and communication.

"What do you mean by 'savior'?" The thought of Sync saving anything, or more so anyone was as common as Dist being listened to and _cared about_ -It just _didn't happen_. And it wasn't that the jasmine-haired teen wasn't generous or nice or anything, it was more so that he just didn't have it within him to be generous, or to even fathom the thought of being evenly slightly kind. All Sync had going for him was a brain filled to the brim with insensible nonchalance and plastic manners that were below Ghetto in levels of refinement, if that was even possible.

"I mean what I say. But I don't have much time, so we'll have to be quick."

"Why, what's going on? Where are we?"

"Like I just said, I don't have enough time to answer the first question. But as for the second one, you are currently located in Belkend, City of Dreams."

"What? But…this doesn't look anything like Belkend, there aren't any machines littering the streets or—" Guy was completely bemused, since he was most definitely _not_ in Belkend, if anything, it looked as though he was in the Malkuth capital, Grand Chokmah. The streets were so eerily bright yet welcoming to the night group, and the litter and filth around what the blonde had seen of the city was fairly clean, not to mention the fact that the lack of Kimlascan soldiers didn't give him much of anything to go on, as terms of who's country it was.

"Guy, the fairy tails are going to have to be left at home."

This hit Guy like one big block of 'What the fuck', since he never knew Sync to be someone of calmness, or composure, but that was the exact thing the green-haired teen was displaying right now, and it was creeping the hell out of the confused blonde. There was a large clatter heard a ways away, and it sounded like people searching, hurrying, like there were a stampede of people all running in the same direction, and even the alley cats hiding in the nooks of corners and trash cans had ran out and away, almost afraid.

"They're here."

"Who's here?"

"Guy, I need you to tell me something, promise me something." Promises were another thing Guy thought that the teen thought were completely ludicrous, inane, and even childish.

"W-what is it?" It was almost unavoidable to hear the worry in Guy's voice, and even though the low rumble of the feet and voices was getting closer by the second, and had almost become upon them, it was still easy to tell the tones and hitches in voices. It was still easy for Sync to distinguish the sound of fear in the older male's voice, and the only thing he showed to cure that fright that was ever present in Guy's voice was a stiff smile that Sync was sure had confused and maybe even further concerned the poor male even more then before.

"Promise me that you'll never wake up."

The low rumble was getting louder, slowly but steadily, and Guy could see the cheerless yet pleased look framed on the boy's smile, but all the same there was a pleading look glistened into his eyes.

"What-?"

And with that, The voices were almost upon them, almost around the corner, and he could hear the individual cries and shouts, and he was more paralyzed by fear then anything, and he knew that with one more bend they would be at present. Something in the way they searched so easily told Guy that they knew what they were looking for, and that he was the object that they so ever desired.

"Promise me!" Anxious and desperate were two ways to easily describe the pain that was laden in Sync's voice, the words being shouted fiercely, yet holding a hint of concern in it that counteracted everything. Guy could hardly focus on one thing, and there was nothing he would love more then to not deal with anything like this ever again.

The shouting got even louder, and the emerald haired boy clung to the wall like there was nothing else there to protect himself with. And with one last turn chosen by the leader, there was nothing but air between the mob of yelling, and the two males hidden in the alley. At that moment, vivid red hair was seen prominent in the midst of everything, the shouting seemed to be nothing more then white noise of the past, and the terrified blonde's eyes went blank, closing shut and blocking out all of the noise in the world. There was endless darkness forever, and the walls seemed to be illuminating with something known as daylight, sunshine, or even artificial luminance. When Guy lifted his locked eyelids, he vividly noticed he was somewhere else and that all of the yelling and screaming that was so present before was now gone. He was at home again, back in the Baticul manor, and there was a tired Luke looking at him from the open door frame leading to the vacant hallway.

"Breakfast's ready."

And Guy had never felt more relieved.

(x)

The days went by slowly, and there wasn't hardly ever a moment in where Guy wished to know what that dream had meant, and what exactly it had to do with anything. For all he knew it was simply a dream, and nothing much to worry about, but he couldn't help but wonder if it was possibly about something else. There were times where he would just sit and watch Luke do whatever he did every day and simply think thoughts about what exactly it had all meant. Though, sadly, he never came to a confirmable conclusion.

Words were thought over and even with the preciseness in Guy's thinking he realized with such disappointed that he couldn't really say much, since he lacked the knowledge of dream's meanings, and other psychology related things that confused him more then it intrigued him. And while this was interesting, there had been plenty of things that had bothered the blonde male in the past, but this dream, this nightmare, absolutely irked him to no end, and it wasn't anywhere within his nature to not be curious about something. But, no matter how long he pondered and thought, and delved into this mindset and vision, he couldn't figure out anything besides the fact that he was completely confused and possibly a bit terrified about it all.

"Guy, you seem out of it."

"Huh?"

"I said you seem out of it."

"Oh, sorry."

"It's okay. Just hurry up and help me with this."

"What is it?"

"Homework. Math. I hate it."

Luke was completely ignorant about the dream that completely engulfed the machine-obsessed male's brain, and Guy couldn't bring it upon himself to ask the redhead for his input when the youth was simply too spoiled to do anything but complain. The entireties of the days spent with Luke were wasted on anything between homework, silly word games and puzzles, and the ever-present wonder about the yelling, screaming, and secrets.

Though, on one day, many moons and mornings after the dream had paralyzed Guy's skull with a permanent smear, there was a meeting held between the duke and the blonde. Not many words were spoken between the beginning and the heart-retching end, but by the time the whole meeting was up there was a dismal smell engulfing Guy's nose, and a striking fear growing painful in his chest. The meeting began with a formal 'how do you do' and a response that was somewhere along the lines of 'no time for small talk'. The room wreaked of olives with a side glass of an indistinguishable alcohol that thoroughly reminded Guy of a bad drinking accident he had about two months ago that made his stomach slosh uncomfortably.

Uncomfortable would have been an easy way to explain the air in the room, disapproving would have been another way to describe it. After all, Guy had never particularly liked the Duke, in actuality, he hated the man with every fiber that his spine would be willing to deal with, and being told he was _fired_ while the uncouth man was _drunk_ was like drenching an open bleeding heart with 7 pounds of table salt and then saying 'oh dear, this is quite a mess'. It was wrong on so many levels, and in the slob's current state of mind, he probably couldn't have cared less.

The middle of the meeting, the course of the news, was this disgusting vile thing that seemed to flip the entire lining of Guy's entrails and gave the Duke a small sliver of a drunken smirk. It was this little slice of the meeting that topped the whole cake of 'FML' and Guy couldn't help but feel like he was being fucked over by the most savage man in all of Kimlasca. Though, in all actuality, the only words that Guy could particularly remember sticking to his mind so well that he could have repeated them 4 years later were the four simple words of 'You're on leave, now.' And although, this hit the blond like a brick to the face, he couldn't help but feel like he somehow had this coming and that eventually there would be no use for him. He took his time stalling and trying to humbly (and this shattered his pride in ways that he couldn't have imagined was even possible) plea to give him more time, since simply kicking him out would seem inane and would make no sense.

Though, by the end of the meeting, he was given an extra week and was to be kicked out of the manor from then on. Guy wasn't really concerned about Luke, since he figured the boy could take care of himself after being thrust into the world so quickly, not to mention the boy had Tear, Natalia, and Mieu to turn to for friendships and other relations. (He preferred to not word that in any other way that made it less discrete. After all, this was _Luke_ he was talking about.)

The world seemed to be caving in, and he was completely without a place to look back to. So, with nothing but his usual traveling items and a few extra dollars he had stashed away just in case, he used his time plotting out a convenient yet inexpensive trip to Malkuth, and eventually found himself face-to-face with the flamboyant emperor.

"Why, if it isn't Jade's advisor, what was your name again, good lad?" Peony was always in a good mood, it seemed, and Guy couldn't help but choke a bit at the thought of being called Jade's advisor, let alone actually being it. There was a stir of awkward silence, aside from the white noise of the glistening waterfall pooling out its watery yet beautiful vomit into the lake, and Guy couldn't help but feel a bit tongue-tied under the stares of the country's ruler.

"Guy Cecille, my lord. And actually, I am not Jade's advisor, or even working for him. I was but a humble servant working under Duke Fabre, but now I am not connected to that line of business." Even a fool could hear the unease and discomfort that was heavily laden into his arrogant yet modest voice. Guy could see a small twitch ensue after the words 'my lord' slipped through his mouth, and assumed nothing of it aside that he didn't like being called that.

"Got the boot, huh?" The words sounded casual, and almost sympathetic, but the way it was said with such simplicity and nonchalance filled a bubble of anger and discontent in Guy's churning stomach. Though, that was a typical feeling and emotion as of late, and he could simply write it off as hunger from his lack of breakfast.

"Uh, yeah."

"And you're asking for work from me?"

"That's the general idea," There was only a small pause, and the younger blonde found himself adding on another one of those formalities he learned from working under the uncouth slob in the Fabre Manor. "Your highness." As soon as those small words escaped the orange-clad male's lips, he felt another bubble of discontent and apathy curdle up in his stomach, wavering through the organ uncomfortably.

"Enough with the formalities, just call me Peony. Being called 'My lord' and 'your highness' makes me feel like some sort of king." Another bubble formed, and Guy had to shift his weight to his other foot in order to keep himself even slightly comfortable. The only noise that could be found now was found from the waterfall in the back, still barfing up its dam contents into the glorious back-water pool. Peony cleared his throat, hacking up whatever phlegm he must, and spoke again.

"But if you need a job, I'd be happy to give you the assignment of watching my Rappigs."

At that, another bubble swelled together, cuddling up to the first one, almost acting like some sort of warning, but the blonde ignored it, and went on with whatever he planned to say.

"That would be greatly appreciated."

In reality, Guy wanted to strangle the emperor for giving him the most demeaning job that he could probably think of. But, being one to stay calm under pressure, hatred, general annoyance to anyone that didn't have the first name of 'Sync' and hair that could match the trees, tried all too familiarly to keep emotions off of his face.

"And where are you staying?"

"Not sure yet."

"I'll set up a place for you in the noble quarters. Sort of as a 'thank you' gift, for keeping the world from destruction and all that." A winded laugh quietly echoed out of the emperor's mouth, the airy chuckle reaching Guy's ears and making him wince ever-so-slightly at how completely childish the ruler of his home-country was.

"Thank you very much."

"See me later for the address and information, I have another appointment."

And Guy left without another word.

(x)

Days, weeks, and possibly even months later, Guy could find himself in Chesedonia, a feeling in his chest tight, and the worry in his stomach apparent on his face. He felt like he was going to up-chuck on something, and he wasn't sure if it was just repercussion of eating some hot dish that Natalia had whipped up in her free time, or if there was something actually wrong and fever-inducing that made his hands that clammy, and feel that light-headed.

'It's just the heat'. He told himself, convinced for the moment, but not at the next. It was like this disgusting cycle of excuses and exclusives, since he wasn't convincing himself, and he didn't feel like telling anyone that didn't already know (Jade knows everything) that he felt like his stomach was doing cart-wheels with its best friend, Gall-bladder.

Though, taking themselves through the border without so much as a concern, the group stopped as a familiar voice wavered through the sand-infested air.

"Come one, come all! Everyone who wants to know the Score follow me!"

Guy felt his heart pound, he felt his fingertips tingle, and he could hear this bell of alarm go off in his head that no one else seemed to notice. Silence overhung the group, if only for a moment, and for only a split second, it was as though the polarity of Auldrant had suddenly switched itself around and flipped in every direction nameable.

"Hey, doesn't that sound like…?"

No one wanted to say names at first, without actually seeing for themselves who it was exactly. It was like this thing that they told themselves 'If we don't say who it is, maybe it won't be them.' They honestly believed it, too, if only for the briefest of moments, smallest of seconds, but during one time period in their minds, they all held the same doubt.

But everyone wasn't such an ignorant fool.

"Sync!"

And then the world began to fall apart at the seams once more.

(x)

Guy had never in his life imagined he would feel so guilty, so inhuman, so entirely wrong and filthy. But he did, he felt all of those emotions with a sickening gag running through his throat, paralyzing his heart and veins cold with the feeling of icy venom. The entire thought process he had felt wrong, from the tip of his tongue to the heel of his foot, he felt guilty, sickened, maybe even the smallest bit maddened.

He watched, all so dutifully, as Sync was bashed on, blamed for, persecuted against, and he not could do a single thing about it but swallow his pride and accept the terrible differences as they were. How he would have loved to have angrily spoken up in the sandy winds that never ceased, and simply admitted something about himself that the everyday person could have found was awkward, creepy, possibly even deranged with a small hint of insanity and foul play. How he would have loved to simply lie in Sync's lap, like a scared, run-away cat, curling up tightly and forgetting everything and anything that he had done wrong throughout his whole entire life of hate, revenge, and lies. It would be so sick and demented, but he would soak up every moment in pure pleasure.

"Anise, you of all people should realize."

Sick bastard, as he may be, Sync knew which tricks to play that worked, and which ones didn't.

He sounded identical to his twin, yet he did it not for the pure sake of unadulterated innocence, but of the pure malice of marring Anise's normal mood, stature, and emotional sanity. This green-haired devil, who did everything and anything just for the pure purpose of ruining everyone else's lives like they ruined his so easily, was ever so close to shattering her straight-faced mask that hovered delicately over her pallid face, leaving her 99 percent defenseless and stranded with a side dash of emotionally raped. But, what did he care? He didn't, and that's why he did it all, and it hit Guy like a brick to the face as he realized the self-destructing replica that he had became infatuated with.

It all made him feel sick, but he couldn't find the words to say anything, yet all the same he still felt the ever-so-strong urge to run away. He felt he needed to flee from Luke, and from everything that had ever reminded him of strictly revenge, and simply fall to Sync's feet like a pathetic love-struck girl. But he knew that he could never do that, if not for the fact that he cared about his pathetically stupid red-haired idiot, then for the fact that the age differences would make him look like some molester of sorts.

"Come on, let's go to Astor's."

"All right."

Guy felt his ego ripping after that, and there was nothing to stop the shredding seams.

(x)

Almost directly afterwards, with the poise and position of world order and sanity, they had a visit to his imperial majesty, Peony Upala Malkuth IX. The floating water capitol was the same as it always was, bright and sunny with a shapely waterfall covering the majority of the horizon and marring the sunset that etched its way beautifully into the once-blue sky.

The group had something or other to report to the emperor, but Guy wasn't paying too much attention to the events as of late, and just went along with whatever they had to do, regardless of what it actually was. Everyone in the group seemed tense, so Natalia had insisted that everyone wind down a bit before going to see the flamboyant ruler, which mainly meant that she and Tear wanted to do some shopping but didn't want to openly suggest it. Luke had automatically protested, but a creepy smirk and agreement from Jade that yes, they _should_ relax a little bit, was all the replica needed to allow the miniscule vacation that each party member needed in equal amounts.

"Tear and I off to do some restocking." Natalia was the first one to scoot out of the group, a slightly disgruntled songstress being dragged along by the arm, forcing her to be brought along to help carry the plethora of items that the princess 'needed'.

"I'm off to go get some repairs on Toku." A slight curtsey, and Anise was off as well, using the age-old excuse of her precious fighter needing to be stitched up, when in all honesty, she was most likely going to spend her cut of the groups money on chocolate and useless weapons, like she did _every_ time they restocked individually.

Jade honestly left without so much as a word, not even caring if the two remaining males were at all worried about where he was going, though, knowing the Colonel well enough, they assumed he was either off to a bar, or he was going to go check that his office hadn't been thoroughly diminished by the rappig-obsessed king.

"Hey, Guy, what are you going to do?" Luke really had started to sound much more innocent, naïve, and maybe even with a slight dash of docile, in the past month or so that they had ultimately reunited, and it made something itchy and uncomfortable stick to the back of Guy's throat. In all honesty, some part of it made him feel guilty, but he was hardly sure what exactly it was anymore, and decided not to think on it too hard.

"Go home, probably, set up a couple rooms for us." Guy's voice sounded tired -exhausted really- because while saving the world with his best friend forever was a rather fun and adventurous ordeal, it was hardly to be considered an easy task. In all honesty, it drained his energy completely just thinking about all of the fights and challenges that they'd had to overcome just to make it as far as they had, not to mention the rest of the road of battles that they were surely to come across.

"Oh, to save money aside from going to an Inn?" 'Innocent', the blonde swordsman thought to himself grimly, 'purely innocent'.

"Something like that." The blonde paused for a moment, air coating over his lungs smoothly, easing whatever anxiety ailed him, if only momentarily. "You go and have fun, if you run into anyone, make sure to tell them to head to my place when they're done shopping… or being Jade."

A light chuckle escaped through the redhead's mouth, turning into an innocent cackle before settling down enough for him to agree to let Guy take care of the sleeping arrangements in a winded tone of voice that spoke in 1000watts of 'nostalgia'. Without so much as another word, the last member of the party departed from the blonde swordsman, leaving him alone in front of the marred beauty of a waterfall, before he himself set off to his house.

He could already feel the eyes on him, but tried his hardest to ignore them.

(x)

He knew that the residential area of Grand Chokmah was a twisted maze of turns and broken pathways, but he had never gotten lost in it before. Well, that is, before now. At this moment, the easily-excitable was as lost as Alice in Wonderland, and he couldn't exactly remember which way it was to his own house, considering the month that he had been away from it. By now, the sunset that marred the beauty of the waterfalls that aligned Grand Chokmah so carefully was now turned into a purple hue, the sun dipping beneath the horizon, but still present enough to dimly light up the streets.

Another turn, and he found himself in _yet another_ alley way, each one seeming to be identical to the last, the only difference, really, being the amount of trashcans that lay tipped over in them, forgotten to the suburban eyes. He swore that despite being lost, everything seemed to look _strangely_ familiar, like he was on the right track to somewhere, but as of the past half-hour or so it had seemed like he was on the right track, only to be painfully reminded that he really had no idea where he was anymore. But, despite the obvious reminders previously that he didn't know where he was, this alley way that he was located in now, with a musty look to it and a bit of graffiti here and there, spoke to him vividly, telling him that he knew _exactly_ where he was.

'It can't be…'

This alley, with its hollow-drum trashcans and rusty pipes, was the one from his dream, the only thing missing, really, was the olive-haired boy and a plethora of screaming and yelling. The realization of where he was hit Guy like a brick to the side of his face, and he couldn't help but feel absolutely disgruntled and confused, his heart automatically racing at a hundred miles per second and his mind shutting down as he could have sworn he heard someone yelling in the distance, but prayed for it just to be his imagination.

With shaky legs, he proceeded to walk down the alley, taking note at every small detail, remembering each scuffle and painted scar from his dream and thinking how absolutely _creepy_ it was for this never-before-seen alley was the one that came straight from his dream, let alone for it to be from one of his more tabooed dreams, with names in it that he would never dare speak of his own volition. Cerulean eyes dashing from detail to detail, a part of his mind racing with only one thought, one small prayer, and that being that he would find his way home soon, because the group was surely going to get worried if he wasn't there soon, but more importantly, a larger part of his conscience praying with every fiber in his body for the horizon to stay silent, at least until he passed through open frame between the two buildings and into the hastily depleting sunlight once more.

A hollow bang echoed behind him, causing him to jump nearly a foot in the air, a gasp of air being taken in after subconsciously holding his breath for the past few moments, and turn around in one fluid motion, eyes training quickly to the source of the sound. The first thing he saw was green, followed by a deep charcoal, only for him to realize at the last second what it was, and who it was that was running away from him with such a might that it turned over an empty trashcan.

"Sync!"

The forsaken name escaped from his lips, his voice an octave or so higher then it should have been, yet still keeping a sort of manly aggression in it that made it sound like he _hadn't_ been hoping for the fon master's replica. The aforementioned boy, who had previously been trying to run away in a half-hearted haste, was now frozen solid, his muscles halted in a mid-running pose, and now he wasn't even trying to run away. It struck Guy as a bit odd, since a few moments after the boy stopped, he turned his head slowly to face the blonde, a half of a smirk gracing over his hardly delicate face, the bags under his eyes appearing tenfold as dark, considering how overworked he must have been with all of the work he must have been receiving as of late.

"So, you came."

Guy didn't really know how to think of this, considering that if the God-General thought he was searching the place out, then how would he react to the knowledge that he had stumbled upon the place on accident, and even more so that he was actually _lost_.

"I, uh, sort of."

'Great, _real_ intelligent sounding.' Guy chastised himself hastily, sarcasm floating through his mind like a heavy dose of cyanide. The look Sync through at him was a desperate mix between anxious, upset, and amused, though that last part of it was mainly the pleasure he got from seeing people around him make fools of themselves like the idiots that the God-General knew they truly were. Though, while the look the teen gave the blond had this hint of inferiority in it, the majority of it was this sort of ambition, this lonely arrogance, that Guy knew almost all too well was just a façade.

"What are you doing here?"

Sync's voice seemed to reach three octaves higher, and while it made him sound if even slightly closer to his high-and-mighty Gemini, it just didn't seem to fit the arrogant, snide attitude that he had pretty much trademarked. An uneasy feeling swelled in Guy's gut, and he didn't know if he should just up and tell the truth that he was lost, or if he should lie to the Tempest and tell him that he was just wandering around town or some other lame, bull-shit excuse that he was hardly clever enough to come up with. An awkward moment passed in silence, the purple hue of the sunset coming over them in an unsettling mood, and Guy just pressed his weight onto his other foot, comfortable if only for the briefest of seconds.

"I'm lost."

The two words seemed to simply slip out and become lost in the air between them for eternity, only for the olive-haired teen to finally realize the meanings of the words, a snarky chuckle relapsing into the back of his throat. A time period that might as well have been three and a half ice ages passed before the Tempest settled back down, his shoulders rotating ever-so-slightly, and his emerald eyes lolling lazily over Guy's face, making him feel an unsettling amount of tension and anxiety boil in his lower stomach, flapping thin butterfly wings to tickle its neighboring organs.

"Y-you're actually lost? Wow, talk about pathetic! I'd have thought that traveling around would have given you _some_ sense of direction, but apparently not." Before he even gave Guy the allotted amount of time to justify himself, another round of low chortles erupted from within the tempest's thin throat, killing the precious silence that had formed only moments ago, only for the sound to quickly subside into a messy halt, not riding off eventually like it had done previously. The tempest shook his head lightly, obviously trying to shake something out of his mind, 'perhaps a bad memory or thought?' Guy mused momentarily, before casting the thought away as quickly as it had come to him.

"What are _you_ doing here Sync?"

In all honesty, Guy's voice surprised the boy as much as it surprised himself, and not just because of the way it sounded low and sultry, but with a hint of childish curiosity and excitement like it always had. The olive-haired replica froze at this, ignoring the tone of his voice and, if the blonde could assume correctly, thinking of some sort of excuse, because telling the enemy all of his plans was one thing that was not normally on the typical menu of conversation.

"It, uh, well," There was a momentary pause, the olive haired replica's voice sounding so unsure of itself before rising four octaves and turning into back into his typical throaty, defensive shout. "It's none of your business!"

"Sure it is, I mean, you said yourself that you'd been waiting." Contrary to popular belief, Guy actually was very smart when it came to putting two and two together, and in this situation, the way that Sync had originally addressed him told him very easily that the boy had been waiting. _So, you came_, the words themselves were fairly innocent, maybe a teeny bit weird and concerning, but in the context of the current situation, the words became awkward, puzzling, and maybe a bit more hen just creepy.

"I-uh, _what_?" The tempest stammered out, his voice becoming indignant and pitchy, probably a bit shocked at what the blonde swordsman had said.

The way the boy's voice contorted so easily, responding so swiftly to the words the blonde spoke, sent a bubble of uncertainty to Guy's stomach, his brain shutting down momentarily before rebooting, now realizing at the last moment how entirely close he was to the tempest. Ten feet, maybe, was all the distance separating them, and if Guy truly wanted to, he could easily seize the boy, but quickly cast the thought aside, since it wouldn't do him any good.

A moment or so passed in silence before the boy reopened his mouth to speak, uncertainty lacing gracefully over his pallid face before being locked back down by ball and chain somewhere in the back of his mind.

"Get out of my way and let me do what I came to do."

Obliging wordlessly, Guy stepped out of the teen's way, watching him out of the corner of his eye and becoming simply mesmerized by the way Sync's hips swayed to and fro with such simplicity, and the way his hair hardly moved as he crouched down to face the side of one of the buildings that made the alley as dark as it was. 'What is he doing?' the blonde thought hastily, his eyes scanning over the teen carefully, making sure to fully analyze everything he was doing, from simply crouching down on one knee, to the way his gloved hands traced a line over the wall, bringing it up to closely examine what it was on it. The way that Sync did all of this, with the secrecy and the structured confidentiality, it was so similar to the way he acted in that dream, the way he held himself with this odd sense of niceness, and the thought of this all being a dream discomforted Guy to no end.

"It's not your blood, idiot."

The words themselves were nothing higher then a whispered sigh, but it was loud enough for the blonde guardian to hear, and it made every blood vessel in his body race, his heart pumping tenfold and his mind going into a similar shock that he could remember from last time. With hands clammy and blood pumping, Guy could feel his brain suffocating, blocking out all rational thoughts.

"What do you mean by that?"

Without so much as even a glance, let alone an explanation, Sync got to his feet, barely staying standing long enough before running down the alley, not caring which direction so long as he was away from the inquiring blonde. Panic infested within Guy's stomach, bubbling uncomfortably and making his eyes see butterfly wings as he thoughtlessly gave chase to the tempest, running towards the purple hue that made up the lighting outside the alley.

"Hey, wait!"

He could feel his footing come up from behind him, making him stumble forward before straitening back up and giving way to a full-force sprint, not allowing himself even a moment to even think of the repercussions of darting out of the alley before crashing into something, falling flat on his ass. At first he was winded, but after hardly even half a second passed before the clumsy blonde had found his voice again to humbly apologize for his ill mannerisms.

"I am so sorry, please accept my apology…" His eyes were shut tight, wincing in the pain his buttocks yelped in, his left hand supporting himself on the dirty city sidewalk with his other hand rubbing his side slowly, in all honesty, it was the most typical of positions possible for the after-math of a klutzy fall, but that didn't mean the swordsman wasn't engaging in it. With another puff of a breath, he opened one of his eyes, gracing the azure orb onto the person who he had so ceremoniously collided with, only for both eyes to widen tremendously, and for an awkward feeling to burrow its way deep in his conscience, paralyzing rational thought.

"L-Legretta?"

His voice sounded unsure, because he wasn't really sure if it was her or not, considering that she had this air of ultimate nonchalance about her, which she would never be caught dead possessing, not to mention the dull fact that her face wasn't nearly as well-carved as it normally was, and her chest seemed to have been lacking in the bust department, if only slightly. Not like he really stared at it or anything, it just was an observation.

"Legretta, leave him. Not today."

A voice sounded behind the sharp-shooter, and before Guy could really process how ultimate cruel it sounded, with this cut and curt sound to it that shattered his ego, he noticed an olive color, his heart pumping blood at a pace that he was sure it was going to burst at any second. Merely half a moment later, the owner of this mysterious voice revealed himself, showing that it was simply the Fon Master, Ion. This connected with Guy's brain as being rather suspicious, because not only was Ion particularly lethargic, he also lacked the shimmering light in his eyes that he always had, regardless of being around the God-Generals or not, not to mention something about him seemed particularly grim.

Was this even Ion at all?

"But, Fon Master…" The look that the blonde gave him made Guy shudder lightly, because even from his pathetic position on the ground, he could see the fear dancing through her eyes, and panic that was most likely racing through her veins. It made the clumsy male wonder a bit, because he knew that Legretta normally had this ultimate air of bravery about her, never backing down and never ceasing a single challenge, regardless of orders. To see her reduced to such a scared state, it seriously made the swordsman worried about who exactly Ion was, or if he was even Ion at all.

It was odd, really, watching the squabbling between the two, yet something struck Guy as so entirely odd that he couldn't find what to place it as, whether it was the fact that Ion was surprisingly the same height as the sharp-shooting feminist, or if it was the fact that the Fon Master didn't look nearly as young as he really was, and actually appeared to be somewhere along the lines of seventeen, maybe even eighteen if he just aged well. But, the thoughts of their oddity were as quickly abandoned as they were summoned, and the fallen guardian proceeded to occupy himself with watching the two co-workers.

"Legretta..." The low tone of his voice, it held this odd sultry tone that was a dangerous mix of innocent Ion's nicest, lightest alto chuckle, and the Tempest's darkest, deepest staccato growl, and it sent shivers of unpleasant electricity down Guy's spine. A feeling of uncertainty burrowed its way into the guardian's mind, telling him to get up and run away, but no matter how many commands were sent to his nerves through his vertebrae, he stayed put where he was, staring up at the purple-hued sky beyond the two 'imposters'.

"Alright."

Without so much as another word from either of them, the two imposters left the clueless male, and without so much as another thought on it, Guy proceeded to pry himself from his position on the ground, and resume attempting to find his house in the maze of dead ends and lost passageways.

He somehow made it home before everyone else, and 'relieved' would have been the understatement of the century to describe how he felt.

(x)

Many months and moons later, and the final destination had come to be, and with one last fast-maneuvering on Noelle's part, the group had not-so-safely landed within the vast walls of Eldrant.

The inside of it was extremely different then how one would expect it to be, the rooms being made entirely out of a brilliant, creamy white marble, the walls being aligned gracefully by breath-taking statues of dress-clad maidens and the floors being recreated with a delicate pattern that spoke in volumes of pure regality and elegancy. Though, while the scenery was so utterly beautiful it seemed to stun even Jade, if only in the slightest, their goal seemed to be more prominent in their mind, since the moment they even dared taking a step inside of the forsaken building, a certain blond sharp-shooter stood in their way, risking her life like her camaraderie before her.

"Legretta!"

This time that Guy saw her, she was back to how she always was, elegant face being distorted by an overly serious snarl, her eyes flaring vividly with the passion to protect her commandant, not like the scared half-busted woman that had seen him fall so gracefully onto his thinly covered butt. She was the Legretta that didn't back down from a challenge, that put her all into fulfilling her tasks, and only took orders from the man that she had originally planned on killing.

A speech commenced, raising morale among herself, before bravely plunging into an ultimate fight to the death, in where she obviously had no hope, considering the four on one scenario that the group always though of as a 'fair fight'. It was pathetic, really, how her vicious efforts were strangled so easily, silencing her within seconds and sending her back into the Fon Belt, her particles rejoining with those of her deceased comrades.

The rest of the events in this replicated Eldrant, this fools' haven, were just too positively strange to be considered real, everything just seemed like it was all part of the façade of this horrible nightmare, this terrifying reality. It shook everyone to the core to realize the demise of their oh-so-lovable God-General redhead, the original of the Fabre twins, yet something helped them to cope with it, and that might have been the realization that Luke had simply absorbed the older Gemini into himself, amplifying his already impressive power to tremendous levels unlike anything before. Though, before anyone could properly mourn over the loss of their worst friend and closest enemy, a certain figure stood before them, white coat tails flowing blithely in the sensitive air currents, and his eyes set bitterly on the thought of victory overly the group that had meaninglessly slaughtered the rest of his co-workers.

"It doesn't matter to me, I'm empty."

"Sync…"

"Let's test it. You, or the empty me. Let's see which side the world wants to survive!"(1)

Guy could hear his heart smashing into a thousand pieces, and part of him didn't even care enough to pick the shards up.

(x)

The moment the final blow was landed onto the frail replica, Guy couldn't help but feel the ultimate regret. Sure, he had defeated the tempest plenty of times in the past, but the teen always receded before any real damage could be done to risk his health permanently and now, with the future of the world hanging in the balance, giving up was a last-resort option that had greedily been stolen from the olive-haired tempest's menu.

Seeing the boy kneeling there, one leg propped into a ninety degree angle, and the other being forced to the ground to give his upper body the shaky support he needed, all the while showing off the scars and tattoos that he hid under his clothing, the image itself was the epitome of 'pathetic'. Guy felt the butterflies of uncertainty wiggle their way into his stomach, flapping away to tickle graciously against the surrounding organs, and the blonde guardian couldn't even bring himself to care anymore. Eyes gazed upon him, some roughly, and others with just sheer curiosity and possibly bemusement, as he walked up the steps Sync placed himself on top of, each step throwing fuel to the fire as the butterflies in his stomach worked their way up, throwing his heart into his throat, along with his kidney and spleen.

"Guy…?"

With one last resounding 'tap', he had made his way up the half-dozen steps, and while they felt like they went on forever, he reached the top, the goal, the tempest, and without so much as another logical statement, sentence, or even thought, he wrapped his arms carelessly around the male, showing the 'hollow' teen the affection he had been robbed of since the moment he was 'born' from the bowels of a replication machine.

Everyone simply stared at him, each with their own individual taking of the scene, a clammy-palmed Luke staring wide eyed and simply livid at the thought of _his_ Guy showing affection to anyone other then him, while on the other side of the spectrum, a wide-eyed Anise simply gazed upon the two with an approving maternal sort of smile. An uncanny silence filled the air, seemingly everyone holding their breathe except for Guy, who seemed to simply breath with a sort of winded smile.

Sure, Guy could feel the eyes on him, each one sending an individual shiver down his spine, but when the bleeding teen cautiously wrapped one arm lazily around his hip, bringing the older male closer to him, he felt all of the stares disappear, because he finally had what he wanted. At long last, he had obtained the acceptance of his previously unrequited love towards the olive-haired, white clad tempest, and nothing was going to tell him that he was doing anything wrong, that he was a sick, perverted old man.

"I'm sorry."

The words themselves seemed hollow, but when Guy opened his eyes from the blissful tirade that had made them close, he found the tempest's olive orbs staring straight into his, salty water pooling into them, threatening to fall and mar the awkward teenage beauty that he had. The blonde guardian simply flashed the fading replica a small, half-docile smile, fully aware of the infection in his heart known as loneliness, and self-hatred that was becoming cleansed with that one, seemingly simple, hug.

"It's alright, Sync, everything is alright."

And with that, the tempest faded into the hollow grips of nothingness.

(x)

Shortly after, the final battle had commenced, and while there was an odd sense of completion, of finality, that came with the permanent defeat of Van, having to see the redhead, who the blonde guardian had raised since the young replica was first brought into the world, leave like it was going to take him merely a moment to release Lorelei simply tore Guy apart to no end, especially with the final departure of his 'love'. In all honesty, he didn't like referring to Sync as that, since it just seemed a bit too weird for even him, but having the confirmation to be able to, it was a little guilty pleasure the blonde guardian loved to take part in.

Though, the only thing that really saddened him to the point of no end was the fact that he knew that if he returned to Baticul now, there would be no fumbling, almost-always cheerful redhead awaiting his for arrival eagerly, and the fact that he knew if he got lost on the way to his home from resuming his job of grooming his emperor's rappigs, there would be no olive-haired teen there to give him a bit of interesting conversation before sprinting off to leave him with some oddly-placed imposters.

'It just, wouldn't happen anymore.' He told himself solemnly, trying his hardest to convince himself, even though the doubt that heavily laden his conscience's voice was thicker then Jade's well-timed jokes of being an 'old-timer'. 'Not in this lifetime, or any other.'

After all, there was nothing that needed to happen. The world had gone back to normal, Van had been ultimately silenced, and not even the occasional reminder of a dream long-abandoned could convince Guy otherwise.

The only real reminder he had anymore of the adventure that had already celebrated it's second year anniversary was the occasional visit he got from Jade while delicately grooming over the uncaring, flamboyant emperor's rappigs, hardly even listening to the awkwardly-pitched rambling of the over-excited ruler. During one of the visits he received, however, the now-promoted Brigadier General had mentioned something about a get-together that was going to be happening in Tataroo Valley on the third year anniversary of Eldrant's destruction, and how the group was going to be reassembling.

"It would be appreciated if you came with." For once, the tone in Jade's voice wasn't sarcastic, or even a rude growl, it was just this odd sort of leveled-out seriousness that left a horribly rancid taste in the very back of Guy's mouth. Being one to always put up a mask, the blonde rappig-sitter simply smiled pleasantly, nodding his head lightly with his confirmation.

"Well, I wasn't really planning anything that far ahead, so I'm sure I'll be able to go."

The days after that seemed to simply merge with one another without so much as a moment going by that the now-childless guardian didn't yearn for both of his replicated loves back, with Luke filling the position of his rambunctious child and Sync taking place of a youthful first-love. It was overly dramatic and partially sappy, but every second that went by of every day, Guy seemed to miss the two boys even more, hardly even caring at all about the other four members of the God-Generals -and the solo rogue- that had risked their lives to bring about Van's dream…well, aside from Dist. Dist was currently locked up in a penitentiary that was hardly even an entire hallway away from Jade's office, meaning that the General got an earful of the albino-haired male's screeching more often then not in a day. That poor, poor man.

But regardless, weeks passed by slowly, but before Guy even had the time to change his calendar properly, the date for the long-awaited gathering had finally rolled around, causing both an awkward anxiety and an unbearable excitement within the blonde, the conflicting emotions settling into a hopeful medium that allowed him to pretend he wasn't expecting the redhead to simply appear, the light of the sacred flame blazing through the forsaken night.

When everyone had first found each other on the Albiore, it was just one surprise after another, considering that Anise had not only grown by leaps and bounds since they had last seen each other, but she now had this air about her that made everyone believe she really was going to be the next Fon Master, Natalia was looking like a very promising new hope for the Kimlascan throne, and Tear had, not only expanded her bust size, but she had also expanded her wisdom and understanding of the hymns, allowing her to sing the Grand Fonic Hymn and know the meaning of every verse.

At the last moment, instead of simply gathering to watch the view of the fallen empire, they had decided to lure out the first 'perfect' replica with the studies that the songstress had taken so much time and energy to practice.

"Tue Lei Ze Kuloa Ryuo Tue Ze,"

The world seemed to spin around them, and if Guy hadn't already felt like he was guilt-tripped and drugged, he did now, considering the way his head felt constricted yet loose, like there was pressure building inside of his skull like some screwed-up balloon.

"Kuloa Ryuo Ze Tue Ryuo Lei Neu Ryuo Ze,"

'Everyone's so tense', the blonde noted casually, not even caring as to have some sort of brain-filter, because his head felt so tripped out on acid, or whatever it was, that he didn't even care how terribly uncouth he acted in the realm of his own mind.

"Va Lei Ze Tue Neu Tue Ryuo Tue Kuloa,"

'I wonder if,' He paused for a second, his eyes shutting in bliss as the power of the hymn overtook him for half of a second, before he continued on with his thoughts. 'Luke will actually hear this, or if he's even alive anymore.' At that, Guy shook his head softly, shutting his eyes tight as he did so before opening them again quickly, staring out into the bruise-shaded sky, not a single star shimmering. 'No, I can't talk like that, for all we know, he's still alive, maybe just resting.'

"Ryuo Lei Kuloa Ryuo Ze Lei Va Ze Lei,"

Another verse, and he could feel his gut warming in an uncomfortable silence, the effects of the songstresses' hymn luring him into an odd trance. 'Yeah, Luke is just resting, and as soon as he hears this, Lorelei will wake him up and…' He cut himself off short, realizing just how terrible he was acting about this situation.

"Va Neu Va Lei Va Neu Va Ze Lei,"

'I really am pathetic.'

"Kuloa Ryuo Kuloa Neu Tue Lei Kuloa Ryuo Ze Lei Va,"

In all honesty, some part of Guy's brain told him he was ultimately a terrible person, yet some other part of him prayed with every fiber it could convince that Luke _would_ appear, and not only that, but he would have his olive-haired love in tow, a half of a frown plastered to the less-then-enthusiastic boy's face. It would be perfect, really, it that could happen, but the blonde knew that it was really just exceedingly cruel wishful thinking and scolded himself to stop before he actually upsets himself.

"Lei Va Neu Kuloa Tue Lei Lei."

With one last note that seemed to draw out to an eternity, the group seemed to settle down from the state that the song had worked them all into. A feeling of uncertainty etched its way into Guy's brain, only to settle into his stomach as the group let out a simultaneous breath of air, seemingly each person holding their breath for the duration of the big-busted songstresses' hymn.

A moment of silence followed, each person taking little to no heed to the raging waterfall in the background, or the nighttime cicadas that chirped noisily to create a typical sort of white noise. Azure eyes scanned over the horizon, taking no notice at the glistening sea, or the way the selenias seemed to open up, if ever so slightly. The scenery really had no effect on the depressed childless guardian, and if he really gave even the slightest of attention to his surroundings, he may have noticed the way that the to-be female Fon Master twiddled her hands nervously around the seams of her protective, pale rose tabard, or the way that the middle-aged General seemed to uncomfortably shift from one foot to the other, finding neither comfortable in this truly hopeless situation.

Natalia chose that moment of awkward silence as her opportunity to break the ice, mentioning to the big-busted Songstress and guardian of the absent replicated boy how their presence was required for the services of Luke's coming-of-age ceremony, regardless of him being there or not. The two seemed to freeze in an uncomfortable unison, and all Guy could think of was 'don't break', his mind racing with thought after thought of how cruel exactly the situation really was. 'Don't you dare break character.'

"Let the other's stand around Luke's grave, telling stories of how young and noble he was, but I won't be joining them!"

He could feel salty tears filling around the corners of his eyes, blurring his vision until everything was one dark blob, but no matter what he did, he refused to let the marring liquid fall, let alone smear its way down his reddening checks. In all honesty, the tears were not because of how Luke refused to come back, or to even show some sign of finding an eternal peace, but because of the fact that before, he had been leading Luke, showing him what to do, what not to do, how to sit up straight and use utensils properly, but now… now he was the one who was being led. The redhead had dragged him along for the second half of their adventure, making sure that Guy was as interested in him as he was with everything else that wasn't Sync, and then at the very end of it all, Luke just….

Luke just left him.

"We shouldn't stay here too long, the monsters here at night get especially riled." (2)

With that, the group agreed with the General wordlessly, not finding the words within themselves, considering the immense depression everyone must have been feeling. At that moment, Guy was beside himself, screaming out every insult and synonym of the word 'pathetic' that he could come up with to describe himself, finding each one more and more appropriate. No one spoke at they trudged through the grassy plain, and because of this heavy silence, when a single gasp cut through the air from Tear's lips to everyone's ears, the entire cast had to simply turn around to see her, eyes watering as she gazed forward, urging them all to look for themselves.

There, in the middle of the field of blooming selenias, stood a single figure, luscious red hair gracing across the bruised night sky, stature taller now then anyone had ever remembered, with his eyes leveled into a calm gaze.

"I like this place; it has a nice view of Hod."

"Luke!"

Without so much as another thought, everyone aside from the stone-cold General rushed towards the redhead, finding him to not be an illusion like they had maybe thought at first. The guardian of the boy could feel his veins being pumped with adrenaline, his heart practically thumping out of his chest as he reached the now-grown replica, finding another shadow behind the teen.

"Luke, is that…?" Natalia's voice trailed off as she looked uncertainly at the two shadows that had emerged from behind the matured redhead, revealing a shocking discovery of two specific faces.

"While I was merged with Lorelei, I resurrected two of our 'closer' friends." The sarcasm ran dry through his sentence, and he ended up sounding more calm then anything, as the two figures emerged from his shadow, revealing hair of dark cherry, and bright olive. It took Guy a moment to realize what exactly was going on, but he then realized that his ultimate fantasy, for Luke to reappear and simply hand over the deed to his very own Sync, was actually happening, along with an awkward not-upset redhead that he had never before seen pleased.

"Asch? Is it really you?" Her voice was shaky, tears welling up in her eyes, and the princess seemed to think it was an appropriate time to ignore any manners she had been taught, and simply flung herself at the two males, bringing the Gemini's into a bone-crushing hug and was both tear-stained and bruising. The now-mature replica simply smiled at this, and allowed himself to be brought down under the weight of the Kimlascan princess, while his original, who seemed a bit weird in terms of how he looked and acted, laughed at this, saying little half-sentences along the lines of 'it's alright, Natalia, you don't have to cry.'

Though, what really caught Guy's attention, aside from the awkward hug-fest going on between the two Gemini's, Natalia, and a jealously added-in Anise, was a shy look that he was getting from a now-grownup Sync, with hair being pulled sloppily over his head to cover his right eye, while other chunks stood out of place like it always did, just slightly longer. In all honesty, he wasn't sure how excited he could be with Sync, or how much PDA he could show the young replica, but he decided to simply give the boy the benefit of the doubt and embrace him in a way that was friendly enough to not be creepy, but intimate enough to get the point across, pulling the revived olive-haired teen in an odd run-hug that the Kimlascan princess had done on her cherry-haired fiancée.

"Wah! Guy!"

Obviously, the teen wasn't expecting the blonde to tackle him full-out, and the two fell to the ground, the blooming selenias lighting up the olive-haired male's face in a way that spoke in both 'elegance' and 'beauty', though with this odd sort of difference in it that wasn't the same as his face usually was. Guy quickly dismissed it, however, since he was absolutely ecstatic at the fact that he had everything he ever wanted, Luke, Sync, and the ability to coddle the two with no one even caring less about if he was getting a bit too 'personal' with the replica that used to hate them, and do things simply to spite them.

"Jeez, Guy, can't keep your hand off of him for a second, huh?" Luke had his toothy grin back, and even though his hair was dramatically dipping down his face, to cover his eyes, the bright emotion in them was prominent, and his guardian could feel his veins pumping with a positive adrenaline, bubbles of excitement swelling in his gut. Without so much as another breath, the blonde ex-swordsman reached out his hand, grabbing Luke by the coat-sleeve and dragging him down to the ground with the olive-haired ex-tempest. A few moments passed in silence before everyone burst out laughing, enjoying the silly childish the Luke brought out of Guy, and the Guy brought out of Luke.

"Hey, we should probably be heading out, monsters and all that. An old person like myself wouldn't be able to defend myself against a rampant boar." (3)

"Oh, shut up, Jade, you're so obnoxious!"

Life seemed, at long last, to be looking up.

(x)

Months went by afterwards, and the renown swordsman and his love, an ex-God-General, began to reside together in the blonde's humble abode in the shimmering capitol of Grand Chokmah. Life was wonderful for the busy couple, and aside from the odd stare or two they had sometimes received from the occasional pedestrian as Guy ran off to his duties in Peony's throne room, after being promoted wonderfully from his task of guarding the emperor's precious rappigs to guarding the emperor himself. It wasn't that complicated of a job, but the way that Peony fretted over the blonde made him a bit flushed.

Surprisingly enough, to both the blonde guardian and anyone who dared enough to inquire on the touchy subject, him and Sync had a strict rule of keeping their pants on, surprisingly enough. It wasn't as though Guy felt bad for the age difference that was between the two, considering that Sync was now only seventeen, almost eighteen, but more-so because he wanted to wait before he dared to paint over the replica's pretty, pearly white, virginal canvas. It just wasn't in him to dare initiate that kind of thing.

Some things just weren't in Guy's nature; intercourse was one of those things.

Peony, however, knew about the blonde's disposition of naivety, and took it upon himself to set the mood for the two, though; the majority of his attempts ended in a horrible failure and were normally somewhere along the lines of sexually harassing the two by sending them mail along the lines of 'have children already!' Needless to say, the awkward couple found the mail irritating, and the older of the two was always forced to decline his overly flamboyant ruler's raunchy command.

Though, despite the weird mail the ex-tempest and guard got from the emperor on the rare occasion, life was going rather swell for them, with a decent income from Guy's 'important' job, and a small amount of allowance coming from commissions Sync would do on the rare occasion to pose in as a body guard for travelers, they were able to live a very comfortable life together, with or without the little squabbling here and there.

The only thing that could ever bother them, aside from the small fights that any healthy couple would have, were the dreams that the good spirited blonde would have every once in a while. While dreams were a good thing, and having them on regular basis was healthy for any normal person, be them male, female, infant or senior, Guy highly doubted having repulsively real, always consecutive dreams –nightmares, really- was healthy, especially for a twenty-four year old male.

The first one he had, it was nothing more then a small bit, a snippet if you will, of the whole story that he had yet to begin to learn, and even begin to hate.

Drearily, his eyes opened with a bruised feeling to stare at a greyhen ceiling, finding nothing really that amazing about it other then the fact that it was _far_ too dirtily stained for it to be his bedroom's clean plaster. Less then a second later, his ears began to detect a light 'beeping' from his right, but as he went to turn his head to investigate the sound, he was intercepted, a pair of woman's hand, and he could only tell this by the scarlet red nail polish that scorned it so and the way the skin over her knuckles was so smoothly aligned, taking his right and left temple into their grasp, keeping his head from moving, before shouting something that seemed so surreal and typical that Guy would have laughed had he not felt the dire urge to throw up.

"Doctor, he's awakened!"

Moments after this woman, this 'nurse', as he presumed in his dreary state, had spoken so loudly, he was being forced off of his back, his lower areas being kept as they were, his weak hands being used to prop himself up. It was a natural position, but with the dreariness of his mind, he couldn't even find himself comfortable lying down, let alone being forced promptly into a _sitting_ position. His vision swam, if only for a moment, before a bright light was being shown into his eyes, one at a time before receding into a blur of rainbow phosphenes.

"His eyes are dilated, Doctor." The woman's voice was calm, almost like molasses slowly trickling down some wall, or possibly even a steep ramp of sorts, and it calmed Guy down, if only for a moment, only for his adrenaline to be shot back up on a bullet train at the sudden realization that a _woman_ was _touching_ him. A speed up of beeping echoed through the room, demanding the serene nurse's attention so quickly he found it almost impossible.

"Doctor, get in here, quick! His heart rate is…!" Her voice trailed off in a rushed panic, and if the blonde in medical questioning cared enough to gaze upon the woman, he could have seen that her eyes were wide in alarm, and her eyebrows were furrowed carelessly, enhancing the serious creases in her forehead. Though, because Guy really _didn't_ care enough, he instead focused on keeping his head from lolling off of his shoulders in a lazy slump and kept his gaze low, swimming in and out of staring at his sheet-covered feet.

"What is it, Nurse?"

"His heart rate…"

Barely above a whisper, and yet the red-nailed woman's voice was so overbearing that the medically questioned blonde almost dared to cover his ears to protect the sensitive muscles, but didn't even think to lift a muscle, whether it was from fear of the appendages falling off, or simply out of manners, was unknown to him as well as the two professionally trained paramedics in the room.

"Did you touch him?" The doctor's voice was exceedingly stern, and the way he said it was so critical that it made the blonde feel bad for the nurse, but Guy didn't dare to look up at the rail-thin medic, seeing enough of him simply from the white lab-coat he donned so carefully, and the way his stomach seemed to cave in unhealthily around his waist. The nurse fidgeted for half a moment, barely enough for the hunched over male to catch from his peripherals, before responding uncertainly.

"Well, it's my duty to and—"

Cut off, so cleanly and so carefully.

"Answer the question, did you, or did you not, _touch_ the patient?"

The question was so redundant, so completely repeated, but the way the two professionals refused to talk to anyone, or about anyone, using their actual names worried the blonde, if only in the slightest of measures.

"Yes, I did but I don't see how-"

"Idiot!"

'So professional' The patient thought sarcastically, cyanide slipping smoothly through the cynical thought, before the acid dissolved the statement and left him hollowly staring at his covered feet, attempting to wiggle the limp appendages. The feeling of having to actually give the command to his feet, one at a time, wiggling millimeter by millimeter, felt _exceedingly_ weird to him, if only that. It was like some sort of revelation, only it wasn't so ground-breaking as it was memorable, since the moment he saw a little toe moving ever-so-slightly under the sheets, he felt a goofy grin encase his face, obviously making him look mad from another person's standards.

"Doctor…"

"What?"

"What is he doing?"

The medic looked at the grinning patient, matching his line of vision with the blonde's before realizing the strength and willpower it took for Guy to move that one, single, digit. Immediately, the blonde guard was given the positive attention he needed, being asked if it hurt anywhere, if he needed to rest, if he felt nauseous, and a list that went on and on of typical things that could be asked during a physical that didn't go anywhere near as far and the old 'cup and cough', thankfully enough for the blonde. He could feel his vision leaving, only to come back full-swing, and the intensity of it made him loose tension in his wrist, gracelessly falling back on the rock-hard 'pillows'.

"Are you alright?"

In all honesty, Guy wasn't sure how to answer that question, and as before, his vision swam again, this time not going back to its full power. He felt like he was going to be sick, and simply brought a hand up to his mouth, not even sure if he was helping keep the liquid from coming up, or keeping the oxygen he needed to breathe from going down.

"Hey, are you alright?"

From somewhere in the background, Guy could hear a constant beeping, going high before hollowing back down, a constant spiral that kept getting progressively higher. The blurs markings he could vaguely make out as the doctor's face, and if he had cared enough to put a name on his face, he wouldn't have been able to, being in or out of his right mind.

"Doctor, I think we're loosing him again!"

'Again?' The delirious guard thought, if only for a moment, before his vision completely left him, leaving his ears to pick up nothing but a distant, blaring beep, a ceaseless battle cry that seemed to simply hollow out his eardrums before eventually becoming a distant nothingness. All around him was black, and while he could have easily stood up and attempted to look for a way out of perfect darkness, he found it comfortable to simply 'lie' wherever he was. An eternity and a half could have passed that he was simply 'lying' down, but eventually, he heard a faint beeping sound in the distance, not like the vibrantly vivid one he had heard in the 'hospital' that had now faded, but a deeper sound, much more sugar-coated and friendly.

As it turned out, it was his alarm clock, and with a hazardous _slam_ to the clockwork, he opened his eyes groggily, finding the ceiling of his bedroom to greet him with a serene sense of hope. The scene itself, of him getting up and getting ready for a hard days work of simply standing and having to choke down the emperor's harassment, was neither a very pleasant nor exciting ordeal. Though, this morning, with a horrible dream setting the mood in a hardly appropriate way, something just seemed to set itself apart, something seemed to make everything just ten times worse and he just couldn't seem to figure out the real reason as to 'why'.

The moment he had fully 'awoken' for the morning, and he was ready to face the day with a full-out grin, meaning that he had successfully washed his face and released his bowels in the always open-lidded toilet, he had noticed a lightly trembling figure curled deep with the stomach of comforters on his bed.

Without so much as a second thought on what was really underneath, he carefully brought the fleece blanket back, carelessly revealing a sobbing, olive-haired replica. The sight itself shocked him, to say the least, considering that after all of the pointless squabbles and lover's spats, he had never _once_ seen the ex-tempest openly sob. The boy's eyes pierced through him, the emerald shades seeming to turn into ice itself, and it stung him so mortally to see the olive orbs he so adored pulled so carelessly into such a jaded and wild emotion.

"You- you promised me you'd never wake up."

Guy could feel a lump hitting the back of his throat, and somehow he knew nothing would ever be the same.

(x)

(1) I like changing the dialog in some spots, but this is one of those lines you just have to keep as is.

(2) There are some lines I have memorized perfectly from this game. This is not one of them.

(3) This is funny, because the monsters there are so pathetically _weak_.

SO, this totally took me forever to write up, since I took my sweet-ass time with the beginning of it, but a day or so ago, I hunkered down and wrote up the entire portion from Grand Chokmah to the end. I'm pretty proud of this, actually, despite my absolute loathing of that ending. Oh well. None of the chapters after this are going to be anywhere _near_ as long. But they _are_ going to be massive walls of text.

Also, is anyone curious on the plot? At all?


	2. Two

Dream chaser

Headphone does not own.

(x)

CHAPTER 2;

"Sync? Sync, honey, what's wrong?"

No words could really explain what was going on, or why the boy was crying, and Guy couldn't help but wonder 'was it something I did?' Though, as he sat half-naked, mainly just shirtless, from atop the down-mattress, he couldn't think of a single thing wrong that he might have said, or could have done, to upset the ex-tempest, _his_ tempest, to the point of _tears_. But, suddenly, the words that Sync spoke suddenly clicked within his brain, and sent severely unpleasant shivers down his spine, shaking his vertebrae to the core.

'You promised you wouldn't wake up.'

Something just, wasn't right about this. Something was not right at all. First, he has a weird dream seemingly _years_ ago, in where the young replica was telling him, practically pleading him, in all honesty, to not wake up, and now, for the first time in practically three years and some odd months, the blonde experienced another of his repulsively realistic dreams. Though, this one was different, with the setting being some neo-apocalyptic hospital, with red-nailed nurses and balding doctors, everyone speaking in indirect object pronouns, and somehow, he felt he could actually feel things, for what seemed to be the first time ever, despite the blurriness of it, the blonde felt that he could actually see things with some sort of sharpness that just lacked in the real world. But, the moment this dream was over, and Guy could feel his hazy vision returning, along with the ability to stand and use names, he had come across this…mess.

It really was a mess, when he thought about it. Sync truly was just a huge train-wreck, the only limitation of the analogy being that there was no blood, all of his appendages were still in-tact, and the only thing he had to deal with that was broken was his pride. Obviously, crying, let alone the intense soundless sobbing he was reduced to, shattered that right in half.

"You have to stay here, Guy, please, don't go back there."

The words came out in a hardly-above-whisper plea, and the blonde could feel his shirt being gripped to as the now-grown male clung so graciously to the guard's waist, staining his skin with colorless tears. The position itself was only slightly uncomfortable, but with the water running down his abdomen, crawling snail-speed to his trousers, it irked him to no end, but not nearly enough to push the tempest away. Quiet the opposite, really. With one swift moment, he brought the younger male to be draped over him, chest to chest, Sync's arms lounging lazily over his love's shoulders, and his butt being positioned over Guy's lap while his legs poked out cautiously, curling around the blonde's waist sloppily. The way that the two were positioned was the pure epitome of sex, but neither found the thought appropriate, considering the way the green-haired male sobbed so carelessly on Guy's bare shoulder, spewing out random half-sentences that formed to something along the lines of "I'm so sorry."

"Sync what are you-"

He was cut off, so quickly that he hardly had time to register that it was even happening.

"Please, promise me you'll never go back there! Stay with me, please, forever." Another tear rolled lazily down the replica's cheek, and once again, his beauty was marred beyond what Guy thought to be even possible. Hiccupping out another choked cry of a sob, the olive-haired male gripped his shaking hands tighter to the guard's waist, almost as though the older male would disappear if he even _dared_ to let go of him.

"Sync, you're scaring me, what are you saying?"

Guy could hear his voice crumbling into a shaky, adrenaline-rushed stutter, and part of him wondered if his better half could sense the absolute terror in his voice as he could do nothing but simply watch as the boy who he knew to be so strong, so sturdy, reduced to a writhing mess of a male.

"It's Hell, there. It really is."

Sync's voice was reduced to a hardly-audible whisper, and the older male had to strain his ears to hear the words, trying his hardest to understand. The moment the olive-haired replica finished his sentence, Guy's mind immediately shot in thirty separate directions, each one imagining something worse and worse then the next until he had to suddenly close his eyes momentarily to block out the visions, returning his azure eyes to lock into emerald ones. A thick silence enveloped the room messily, if only for a moment, and if the two love-birds had a manual clock anywhere in their humble abode, the slow ticking of it could have easily shattered their eardrums right in half.

"What do you mean 'there'? Where is 'there'?"

Shifting uncomfortably for a moment, the olive-haired youth lowered the horizon of his gaze, staring solemnly into his love's clavicle before dragging his dilated eyes back up to lock with Guy's. If the guard had any talent in the art of future-seeing, he still wouldn't have been able to even _comprehend_ what his better half was going to say. The idea of everything that was happening just seemed so absolutely ridiculous, almost to the point of being like some excruciatingly screwed up fairy tale, with a sad beginning, middle, and end.

"Guy, you need to listen to me, and listen very, very carefully."

He prepared himself for the absolute worst, and even then, the way he tensed up his muscles to the point that his lungs were pleading so quietly for air, it didn't help the future. Nothing would have helped him now, it was all one terrible Pandora's box, and even then, maybe Pandora even pitied him a bit. If he even dared to open his ears enough to listen to anything but the hardly-there whisper that shook the very core of his vertebrae.

"This, this life, this existence, it,"

It was like some rollercoaster, and right now, the lime and lemon haired males were at the very top of it, preparing for the terrifying plummet down, only, instead of the ride being a fun thrill, it went far to fast, and everything seemed to suddenly be going wrong. The only way Guy could tell that, that something was going to go horribly wrong the moment the olive-haired teen finished his sentence, was the way Sync's eyes looked, the way that they filled so desperately with salt water, and the thick hesitation that was laden so heavily in his hiccupping voice.

"It's not real. None of this exists."

A lump hit the back of Guy's throat, and he could feel his back shriek out in pain as Sync clawed messily at it, sobbing obnoxiously onto his pallid chest. The guardian's breath seemed to cease altogether, and his eyes simply widened desperately, trying to distinguish if anything was real or not. As far as he could tell, all of the sights of the teen, the suffocating smells of his staining tears, and sounds of his throaty sobbing, were all plenty real, plus the searing pain that ripped through his shoulder blades with delicately trimmed nails, but, somehow, it all just seemed too…staged.

Another imaginary tick hit in the background, only this time, Guy could feel it ricochet within his chest, his heart thumping in tune to the nonexistent tempo.

"What do you mean it doesn't exist?"

Sync let out another cry, his tears marring down his cheeks again, splashing uncaringly onto Guy's chest, dipping graciously into his collarbone before continuing on their way down his chest. Even if the blonde could care about anything other then the sobbing teen on his chest, he wouldn't have been able to bend his hands between the two to wipe up the liquid, and because of that factor, simply ignored the droplets.

"Nothing here exists. Nothing. That world that you saw, inside of your 'dream', that is the real world; that is what actually exists."

Despite the emotions that were obviously choking him, the replica's voice was exceedingly docile, not even daring anymore to bristle in rage, or even subdue under the depression that was slapping him straight in the side, undoubtedly strangling logical any thoughts he might have been stirring up.

"So, what about you, what about _us_?"

Guy didn't even care enough anymore to dare disguise his tone, because even though he would have loved to cover up the truth that his heart was racing a mile a minute, he didn't have enough compatibility in his mind to comprehend anything other then what the sobbing olive-haired teen was telling him. Another sigh escaped his lips, and while it was only audible to his own ears, he could have sworn he felt the younger male tensing underneath him before opening his own mouth to speak.

"Me? Well, I exist in that world but, not in the way you want you want. 'We' never happened. It's all just in your imagination."

It was then Guy's turn to tense up, and he felt horribly raunchy, since he was sure that Sync was horribly disgusted by him at this point for forcing into this that and the other that he was sure was beyond 'awkward', if only that. Another retch and the blonde simply gripped him tighter, whether it was out of simply comfort or to attempt to restrain the hiccupping that so marred the teen's pride is debatable. Comfort was something that Guy needed, but he was sure that by this point the green-haired male wasn't going to give him that in the slightest, considering the salty water that pooled so child-like in the ducts of his eyes, threatening to stain his cheeks so transparently.

And thus, the tears were freed, running havoc down his gradually scarlet-turned face. A lump hit the back of his throat, digging mercilessly into his Adam's apple, and suffocating all sensible actions, causing him to hug the green-haired teen even tighter, praying to Lorelei that everything would stay as it was, that this scenario was just a horrible nightmare. Yes, that's all it was, right? Surely, within moments, he would reawaken, his bed still inhabited by the teen, and life would go on as it had for the past however long, never minding the lucidity of his night terrors.

"Guy, I have an assignment I have to complete."

A shrill cry emitted from his throat as Sync dug his fingernails deep into his back, the searing pain seeming far too vivid to simply be a 'dream'. He could hear whispers in the distance, so loud yet muffled at the same time, seeming to be nothing but a boisterous white-noise, as though a herd of undistinguishable animals were screaming off war-cries in the back of his brain, shrieking noisily throughout his ears and pouring senselessly into his bloodstream, poisoning his body and mind without a second thought.

'Please don't leave me.' it shrieked, so tainted sounding, like the filth of his awakening.

Another round of tears emitted from the younger male's eyes, staining his skin once more, before sound could be heard.

"I have to bring you back there, now that you've awoken."

'Too docile', Guy thought so quickly, his heart racing at the simply thought of the so easily-tempered male suddenly following instructions that he so obviously protested against, 'he's far too docile.' Another lump hit his thought, but he quickly smoothed it over quick enough so that he could talk.

"Sync, I don't want-"

The aforementioned teen drove another fingernail into the older male's back, quickly silencing him with a pain-filled cry, his throat tensing up so quickly that it nearly suffocated him. He gagged at this, but quickly found his body relaxing again, or at least, as much as it could, considering the mental and physical stress he was under. Another round of sobs pelted onto his chest straight from the younger male's ducts.

"Think I want this? Do you honestly think I want you to know that world? Do you think I want you to know the fact that in that world, you are nothing more to me then a comrade? Nothing more to me then, then just the 'Cunning'? Do you think I'm happy with that?" His voice was getting choppier and choppier by the second, his sobbing turning his voice into a hiccupping mess, body shaking like the tempest he used to be known as.

"The Cunning? Sync, surely you don't mean," Pausing a moment, whether waiting to simply intensify the effect or actually trying to think through what he was implying was debatable. "You don't mean, I'm a-"

"Guy, in the real world, you are commonly known as Guy the Cunning, a merciless warrior who works for the Oracle Knights, Commander of Special Operations, a position fit only for a God-General."

This hit Guy upside the head like a solid blow of a brick, and the only thing he could think of was how easily he had let down Luke, how he had ignored moral principals so completely to focus on the selfish yearnings of revenge, and how utterly horrible of a person he must have been in his dreaming to lust so horribly for a reality that didn't even exist. He could feel metaphorical blood dripping down his face, but it was only until it reach his chin that he realized that it wasn't a scarlet bead running down his cheek, but rather a clear one, completely transparent, and filled with enough sorrow to choke a full-grown liger (1).

"Eternal savior, release this soul from his cage,"

He knew it was an incantation, and he could _feel_ the rush of seventh fonons as they plunged into the younger male's body, fueling his glyph in mass and volume. A sudden wave came over the older male and he suddenly felt his upper eyelids becoming so much heavier then they really were, and a state of dreariness came over him. He knew that this was it for this world.

"Sync, you have to stop this."

His voice sounded so absolutely pathetic, but he couldn't even bring himself to put any more effort into it, sense every fiber in his body was being used to simply keep itself from falling asleep.

"Purge him of his sins, and allow him to truly awaken,"

Another wave, this time stronger, and Guy could see the guilt engulfing his younger counterpart's reddened eyes, filling so delicately with the water that stained his pink cheeks so graciously, pulling violent hiccups from his sternum. If he had the strength, he would have pulled his hands up to stop Sync, who had his hands placed gently on his chest, forcibly placing fonons into him that drained him of his strength, his eyes yearning to close so much more then even seconds before.

"No, Sync, please, stop!"

His body burned so much, whether from the forced entry of the fonons, or the way he forced himself to stay conscious when all he really needed was to just close his eyes and wish it all away. A deafening silence thrust its way into the room, before being completely ignored not even moments after it was erected as yet another wave of dreariness flooded over the older male's body, forcing him to cringe to stay conscious.

"Nocturnal Release!"

At long last, his eyes closed, a lucid feeling of falling overcoming him before the unreachable abyss disappeared, revealing the disgustingly filthy hospital room once more. His first instinct was that of panic, only at the sudden realization that he wasn't in any immediate danger, and after that, the beeping that seemed so familiar calmed back down into a steady pulse, unlike its anxious brethren that blared so obnoxiously hardly even three doors down, if the blonde had honestly cared enough to even put a location to it.

"Doctor, he's back!"

The world was once-again ripping itself apart at the seams.

(x)

The obnoxious clank of boots to the half-waxed tile flooring caught the young male's attention, and part of him didn't dare to look up, but some part of the scenario seemed so absolutely important that he did go out of his way to even glance up half-heartedly at the noise, finding it to be exceedingly worth-while. His heart pounded a bit harder, and the only true evidence he had of it was the beeping that, if he assumed correctly was his heart beat, suddenly started hastening. If panic was an element that could be measured like any other organism, about three gallons of it would have just been poured into every ounce of blood the male had in his entire body. Needless to say, calling Guy anxious would have made for another one of those 'understatement of the century' statements.

"Doctor, I've heard that Gailardia has awoken." A slight pause, possibly for a confirmation of something, Guy really didn't care at this point, because by now he had already lowered his eyes back to his typical resting level that centered itself mainly on his slightly-movable toes. "That's good to hear."

Fear paralyzed his bones; his head throbbing like some sort of cleaver was delved deep into his skull, pulling apart his sanity in and of itself. Gruesomeness aside, he could feel his fingers tighten around themselves and despite how his head wished to simply loll around on his hardly-supporting neck, it stayed place where it was, too absolutely terrified to even dare to move.

It was as though every hair on his body was standing on end, and from a man who he knew _trusted_, who he knew _relied_ on him. It was truly sickening, to say the very least.

"Ah, Commandant, it's so good to see you again." The nurse's voice was suddenly much more youthful, and if the mentally incompatible patient had been in his right mind, he may have even noticed that it wasn't even the same nurse, but some overly friendly chestnut-haired teen with curious eyes and a devious smile, and if he had even cared _in the slightest_, he would have realized that he _knew_ the teen. But, as it would just so happen, he was so completely out of it that the attendant's voice was nothing more then a vague memory of a girl whose name he would surely forget within weeks.

"How long has he been awake, Tatlin?"

Goosebumps crawled up Guy's side, and part of him dared to look away from the man who so thoroughly _ruined_ his life, in both his own private reality and the one he was stuck in at the present.

"He just woke up, seems he's been off and on for the past week or so. Seems he's actually conscious this time." Slow like molasses, her voice seemed to trickle through the air, easing the blonde's soul if only in the slightest bit. A spark of electricity seemed to race down the blonde's spinal chord, making him shudder violently in the process.

'Week? Did that entire life take place in only a single week?'

"Yes, it does seem that way." The Oracle Knight's voice was stern, just as toned as it had always sounded, but somehow, something seemed different about him, if only slightly, something seemed more…gentle. "Gailardia, can you hear me."

"Yesh, k'nda." Guy's voice even surprised himself, even if it was nothing more than slurred phonics put together in something that sounded similar to verbal communication.

"Commandant, he's not in his right mind yet, you probably shouldn't try to rush –"

"Tatlin, I appreciate the concern you have for your superior, but if you would, I'd like it if you would allow me to continue." The commandant's voice was cold, as frigid as a glacier and as precise as a tumbled and cut diamond, and just as tough to break. The girl in question simply stood there, obviously insulted by her superior's words, and how absolutely inconsiderate he was to the patient that he commanded.

"Well, then," She paused for a moment. "Good day, Commandant."

Without another word, the young girl left the room, and if Guy had cared enough to look her in the eyes, he would have seen the hurricane forming behind them. The commandant, as so rightly called, walked the whole three steps to the patient's bedside, taking care to walk lightly on the grimy floor. Looking straight into his eyes, chestnut locking into blue that refused to look at him, a rushed, and possibly winded 'hmm' escaped the older male's lips, possibly acting as a light chuckle of amusement. The blonde took only a second to strike a violent glare into the ponytail-haired male's side before continuing to gaze subconsciously at his slightly wiggling toes.

"Doctor, his pupils are still dilated, what are you putting in his IV?" He scoffed at the end of his sentence, adding insult to injury as he glared so righteously at the doctor, taking no care as to be 'gentle' with his words. It was then the patient's turn to scoff silently, because when had the older male been gentle with anything?

Before the insulted medic could reply, the older male cut him off so cleanly that his voice was like the sword that he wielded so gracefully.

"Either way, put ten more grams of Miracle gel and Elixir in his IV, I don't want him off in that world of his when Sync arrives."

Guy's heart fluttered, if only for a second. It was then at that time, however, that he remembered 'Sync's words, and how no matter how much he prayed, they would be nothing more than comrades, nothing more to each other than means of mass-destruction. On Sync's part, Guy knew that he probably had no idea of the hurricane of absolute _rage_ that formed in the Cunning's gut just _thinking_ about everything and more that he would never have again, and somehow, that didn't seem to really bother him anywhere near as much as it should have. It was odd, really, some part of Guy was thoroughly devastated that his love wouldn't remember a single thing that happened between them, yet somehow, something inside of him expected it.

'Too good to be true', his subconscious had told him, over and over again like some sort of off-kilt broken record. All he did in response, and all he could do, really, was sit there and stare at his feet once more and listen half-heartedly to the scientific bickering between the Oracle Knight's Commandant and the well-trained Medic.

As if one cue, the Tempest arrived at that moment, sweating, panting, and leaning on the side of the doorframe, his eyes showing an obnoxious amount of life in them, the likes of which Guy had never seen. There was a small itch in the back of the blonde's throat that screamed out 'you're so cruel.' The patient simply swallowed the feeling whole, feeling the butterflies of anxiety and discomfort blossoming in his stomach, threatening to emerge.

"Sorry, if I'm late, Ginji was," A small draw, just enough to catch his breath again. "Taking his sweet ass time parking." A single bead of sweat lolled down the bone of Sync's chin, drawing a line down his cheek in a pattern that the patient could have imagined himself making idly with his finger, once upon a time.

The tempest took one daring look at Guy, and he felt all of the guilt he had ignored catch up to him.

(x)

(1) – A mother-liger, like Arietta's typical buddies, not like one of those little teeny ones that you fight in the Cheagle woods.

So I know this is a lot shorter then the first chapter, but that is simply because I want to upload SOMETHING in order to answer a couple of questions. Just in case you are wondering, this is a theory I came up with a while ago, where it was 'what if, in our dreams, we were someone else entirely. But, when we dream, we simply shift over to that persona, and every time we wake up, we shift back. It's like logging on and logging off that way, only, whenever you log off, time in that world simply freezes.' I'm pretty sure I came up with the idea at three in the morning, which explains the trippyness of it, but I don't care. It sounds cool. ;D


	3. Three

Dream chaser

Headphone does not own.

(x)

CHAPTER 3;

"Sync, you're actually right on time." The Doctor's voice was far too casual, far too familiar. An enraged chill of jealousy sprinted down Guy's spine, and it was only at this moment that he chose to look –glare- at the paramedic, finding that his hair was fully in tact, an ugly shade that rode a fine line between purple and orange, coming down to the nape of his neck in a hideous swipe that covered his left eyebrow before curling around his eye. The doctor's face was youthful, but held the lines of stress in them that signaled an obviously overworked professional. If Guy could have cared to put any more detail into his description, he may have even called the white-coat-wearing man arrogant, with the way he smirked so graciously, though he instead chose to use the adjective 'useless', since it so fit his incompetent mannerisms.

"Oh, that's good." There was silence for a moment, but the quizzical look on his face said that the tempest still had more to say. "So, he's awake now? Fully?" He lolled his left finger towards the general direction of the blonde, if only for a second, before returning it to cling helplessly to the obviously abused doorframe.

"Yes, but he's not anywhere near full condition yet."

Blue eyes locked with green, if only for a moment, and something sparked in the back of Guy's mind that simply stated 'you truly are pathetic.'

"Sync, do you have the items?" The commandant's voice broke the silence, only for it to return again at full blast as the aforementioned Replica searched his person for whatever the 'item' may be. At that point, the blonde's eyes trailed their way down, following the movement of the olive-haired male's hand, only to find that the black and green outfit he so normally adored was missing, replaced with a similar looking outfit. The outfit was more of a reddish-purple then anything, an awkward sleeveless shirt that had a loosely attached collar on it, with a sort of trapezoid-shaped hole on the front, barely covering up the tattoos that Guy had seen so many times in his 'dream', and a pattern on his stomach in the shape of an open eyeball that was staring directly into the older male's soul. On his arm, directly adjacent to the hole, were awkward petal-shaped pieces of clothing, tied to the boy's arms by a thick ribbon-like string, which proceeded to fall down near his ankles. The replica's pants were, to say the least, abstract; nothing more then leggings with a gap in the middle of the leg where awkward garter-belts held the two pieces of fabric together. And, at the end of the leggings, were nothing more then ordinary oracle-boots, holding a bit more of a rustic red to them then the typical silver.

"Right here, Commandant."

The item of questioning was nothing more then a pile of clothing, folded abstractly with corners hanging out and odd lumps poking out from the top of it. If Guy had really cared, he may have realized what it was on his own, but his brain was wrapped up about three-times-too-tight and his eyes were starting to go in and out again. Before he knew what was going on, the pile of oddly folded clothing was being thrust into his hands, eyes of a dirty chestnut color staring raggedly into his.

"This is your uniform, Gailardia, is it alright for me to assume you remember how to put it on properly?"

The words that floated from mouth to ear were so precise and _calculated_ that it nearly made Guy envious, but at the moment, he had to convey information, and doing that was currently a challenge in and of itself as of the moment. He took a deep breath in, or about as deep as he could go without feeling light headed, and opened his mouth, before closing it and opening it about three more times.

"N-nah' r'lly." In all honesty, this sounded much clearer in his mind, though, for whatever ungodly reason, the words simply refused to be said well; no matter how many breathes he took beforehand. Ashamedly, he lowered his gaze to the folded clothing that filled his grasp, taking in as to how ultimately black and scarlet it looked, and how it had this oddly familiar feel to it.

'Nonsense', He thought so cynically, using sarcasm to try and convince himself. 'You're just overanalyzing all of this.' Pathetic, truly.

He could hear the commandant sigh obnoxiously, obviously upset as to how out of it his best God-General was, but no one really cared as to bother his 'deep' concentration. A moment of silence occurred, and the puke-haired doctor chose this time to leave, mentioning a silent something about 'other clients', but nobody really cared that much to notice him, let alone look up, or even, god-forbid, respond.

"Don't even remember that, huh?" The chestnut-haired commandant's voice was hardly anything more then a choked whisper, hardly audible above the obnoxious beeping.

Guy just looked at the older male, since something about his tone of voice explained that he expected this to happen, but a small part of his brain said that he was just looking too far into it, and that it was simply his imagination. That small voice was squashed thoroughly as Sync opened his mouth and spoke the few words that he was nearly expecting, and dreaded so horribly to the point of freezing momentarily at the mention of them.

"You don't think he got," There was a pause, as though it would scorch his tongue if he spoke it. "Amnesia, do you?"

Van refused to answer for what seemed to be the longest pause that Guy felt he had ever witnessed. Three ice ages passed before the commandant opened his mouth, before closing it again without saying so much as a syllable. Another ice age, and the superior repeated the process, before settling on an acceptable response to the, in the blonde's mind, completely ludicrous question. After all, amnesia would mean that he wouldn't remember anything at all, whipping out each and every memory from his bank. He still remembered who he was, right?

Of course he knew who he was. He was simply Guy Cecil, Commander of Special Operations. Nothing more, nothing less, right? Somehow, he felt he was forgetting something important, but just ignored it for the moment.

"I'm," A pause occurred in the commandant's sentence, irking the firmly-head-wrapped male to absolutely no end. "Not a doctor, so I wouldn't be able to say for sure. Though, it seems that he may have selective amnesia from the hit, considering he still responds to his name, and he doesn't seem too confused as to who we are. Something just doesn't seem," The commandant paused, almost as though he were caught in some sort of safety net.

"Yes, commandant? Something doesn't seem…?" The replica stopped hopefully, as though expecting his superior to finish the sentence he started. No such reply was given, expect for a cold stare and a hollow gulp in return.

"Sync!" The commandant barked, echoing throughout the room before being swallowed up by the silence and the obnoxious blaring of the blonde patient's heart beat being projected by the rustic machine to his direct right.

"Yes!" So obedient sounding it sent chills up and down the blonde's seemingly frail spine.

The two of them sounded so militaristic that it made Guy cringe, if only in the slightest, before going right back to staring intently at his previous 'love', taking care as to look like he was taking note of him, but not too enthralled that he appeared to be studying the green-haired male. After all, nothing's creepier then being hit on, right?

"I'm going back to Daath, is it alright for me to trust him in your hands?"

This sentence made the blonde's heart skip a beat, but mostly just metaphorically, since he would have heard it otherwise. But, aside from whether or not his heart had a miniature spasm or not from being told he would be left alone with the apple of his eye, he was almost positive that somewhere in the back of his mind, he was beginning to function again, but only in the slightest.

"Yeah, don't worry about it, Commandant. Need anything else?" The olive-haired male's voice was so peppy it almost disgusted Guy, because that was the voice that only _he_ used to hear, that everyone else was so deprived of. It just didn't feel right for someone else to hear the life in his voice, but something told him that it was just his jealousy overreacting. After all, this Sync didn't know a single thing about what 'used to' be between them, or what the blonde thought about every single time the younger male was mentioned, nor did he really want him to know. It was his dirty little secret to keep all to himself.

"Teach him." The commandant's thick eyebrows drew into a serious line, seeming to darken his chestnut eyes if only in the very slightest. "Teach him everything he needs to know. From sword technique to politics. If he can't remember it, I expect you to teach him. I've already had that responsibility once, I don't need it again." From where Guy sat, so lackadaisical to the naked eye, he could hear the olive-haired replica gulp audibly, louder then the obnoxious beeping of his heart.

At this moment, Sync found his bearings, not leaning helplessly on the abused door frame, and proceeded to simply stare wide-eyed at his superior.

"Y-Yes, sir!" With a sloppy salute from the vermillion-dressed teen, the commandant left, not another word aside from a half-rushed, silence-swallowed 'good day'.

The moment that the commandant was out of sight, Sync slouched lazily against the doorframe, seeming to be exhausted again before flashing a whimsical smile Guy's way, making him freeze momentarily before attempting to smooth his nerves out. After all, the jumpier he acted, the more suspicious it would make him seem. A comfortable silence passed between them, the bandages around the blonde's head hurting a sudden amount as he could feel his brain attempting to finally jump-start itself.

Wordlessly, the olive-haired replica traipsed over to the older male, smiling reassuringly before raising his left hand up to rest carefully on Guy's shoulder, as though he was attempting to soothe any demons that were battling in his mind. Somehow, it both managed to calm him down, and send him in a frenzied state all at one time, because while it was such a friendly gesture, the blonde male was used to the action meaning so much more.

"You," Pregnant pause, as though the younger male was searching for the right words. Eventually he had searched his mental library enough to find the right words and finished his sentence with a sad smile on his face. "Remember me, right?" Water appeared in his emerald eyes, making them glisten like the beautiful gems that they truly were, and his hand tighten its grip, if only in the slightest, but it was enough to make the drugged male wince for the briefest of seconds, before quickly adapting to the pain in his shoulder.

Guy breathed in, and out, taking every second he could to attempt to form a proper response. During his small period of self-meditation, he closed his eyes, trying to remember how to speak, as it turned out, all closing his eyes did was make him feel –not only tired- but so guilty, because all he could see under his lids was, not just the ungodly abyss, but a face. All he could see was this oddly pallid face, with emerald-colored eyes filling its eye sockets and red hair framing its face. If the blonde had studied the face under his lids anymore, he may have remembered who it was, but he didn't. He couldn't. Instead, he simply opened his eyes, feeling an ultimate wave of relief wash over him as he saw Sync's oddly-adolescent face, and tried his hardest to simply ignore the red-framed face that he couldn't put a name to.

"How," This time, it was Guy's turn to have a momentary pause, attempting to perfect his sentence as much as he could. "Couldn' I?" In all honesty, that was actually good enough to meet his standards, which shows just how much of a 'perfectionist' he was, huh? Could probably explain a bit about how [-] turned out, huh?

Who was that?

Why couldn't he remember?

He knew the name was on the tip of his tongue, but something in the back of his mind was preventing him to say it, think it, or even remember it.

His mind fuddled with his obnoxious thoughts for mere seconds, before his attention was grasped, stolen, and made off with by gloved appendages fingering the swatches that connected his pectorals to the obnoxiously blearing machine to his direct right. A simple tug on the small swatches, and all that filled the room was an obnoxious blearing, neither of them daring to move to turn the blasted machine off. There was this untold nonchalance between the two, an unspoken connection that Guy felt he was guiltily aware of, considering how he knew of the dream while Sync was kept completely ignorant.

Maybe things were better that way.

(x)

Getting dressed never seemed to be too much of a chore, but it was now that he realized why it was that children preferred running around naked as apposed to exerting themselves into getting dressed. It really was an uncomfortable process to have someone else help you clothe yourself, especially when that person was the one that you normally didn't have to bother wearing anything around regardless. Needless to say, Guy was finding his heart racing far too fast while Sync was helping him transition his clothing from the thin, white long-sleeved shirt that was rolled up haphazardly to his elbows to allow enough room for the IV that was filled with who knows what, and jet black slacks that were just a bit too loose to be comfortable, to some outfit that had clothing articles that he didn't know how to pronounce. The whole situation was nothing more than a metaphorical, and literal, headache for the blonde, but he didn't have it in him to remove the bandages on his head and see just what injury lie under it.

The lights were far too bright in that small bathroom, and while it was uncomfortable to just get dressed in it, it was even worse to be prodded and poked around by the one person, teenager even, that was the very Sun of his -surprisingly short, now that he thought of it -attention. In all honesty, he was surprised that he hadn't passed out by that point.

"Guy, stop slouching, I need to zip this up."

"Guy, move your head out of the way, I need to clip this."

"Guy, lift your arm, this belt needs to go through."

With every command getting more and more gentle, the aforementioned God-General felt himself feeling more and more comfortable around the vermillion-slacked Tempest, if even in the slightest bit.

By the time the younger male was done dressing up the older God-General, it was within the blonde's jurisdiction to say that he looked goddamn _attractive_. Sure, he was used to being called a Lady-killer and appeasing to the eye, but from where he could see himself in the silver-stained mirror, he was more then just a little bit handsome; he was a walking Sex-God. Though, despite the way that he saw himself, he could vaguely tell that his younger counterpart was having none of that, with the way he stared at him with a flat, unimpressed face. Though, from the months Guy spent practically attached to Sync's hip, he could tell that there was at least a slight glimmer of attraction in the very darkest corner of his emerald eyes.

"So, how do'I look?" His words mostly just slurred together, but the main idea of what he had to say was comprehensive enough for his own ears to be deemed 'satisfied'. A cocky smirk placed his lips, and he could see something along the lines of fear dash throughout the teen, if only visible in the sense that he almost audibly flinched.

"F-Fine," Fear was so prevalent in the teen's shaking obviously-staccato voice that it seemed almost to the term of pathetic. "You look fine."

Somehow, Guy knew there was something hidden underneath Sync's mask of emotions, but he just left it as it was.

(x)

What had seemed like months had passed by, and all that Guy could honestly remember from any of it was the sword-training that seemed to kick his ass almost every day of the week. Ever since he had awoken to this horrible new life, he had found himself slightly less upset and everything, and feeling more and more detached from the world as each day went on. Somehow, even though everything pointed him in the direction that it was just a phase, he figured that his feelings of detachment were a direct effect of being removed from Sync's romantic spotlight.

"Our job, as God-Generals, is to ensure that the world sees this fact," For months on end, it seemed, Guy had been receiving the same lecture from the Tempest, over the bullshit known as the Replication Project, and again and again, he didn't honestly give a fuck as to what the teen had to say over the matter. "That no matter what is done, we will always meet the end of the score, and thus, it is most important that we create these replicas –things not dictated within the score- to fulfill a path for us that we can't honestly hope for." The teen seemed to known what he was saying, but the irate blonde couldn't give even half of a rats' ass as to what he was spewing from that once-innocent mouth.

Silence hung in the air as Sync was trying to catch his breath from rambling for hours nonstop; it was the normal event that occurred after each waterfall of words, which might have made up to something known as 'Political World War' if Guy was even half paying attention.

"So, Guy, you realize now as to why _you _are so ungodly important, yes?"

Guy honestly had no idea as to what he had just rambled on about, but instead decided on simply smiling and nodding; the classiest of move to have been made if Sync were any less intelligent and clever as he truly shaped up to be. The emerald-haired replica in question simply growled lowly, yelling with the most amount of authority he could without sounding too obsessively immature that he was sick and tired of the Cunning always finding a way to make an absolute fool of the olive-haired teen. If Guy was any less of the man he truly was, he may have been hurt, insulted even, maybe even the slightest bit wounded, but, as it stood, the blond held ever sense of responsibility and –possibly even- maturity towards the situation and did what he always did;

"I'm sorry, Sync, I was just too distracted."

He toyed with the teen's emotions until he was a flustered teen with hormones taking control over his –mostly useless- nervous system. If Guy cared about the teen any more than he did, he may have called his actions sexual harassment, but found himself not wanting to classify his actions as anything more than self-destructive. Fluttering his brilliant blue eyes and making a pass at him, under any other circumstance, the younger male would have simply fell prey to the act and allow the conman of 'loving tendencies' to hold him for however long time permitted; but as it was, nothing in this Wonderland was what would be considered as the norm.

Instead, a slap to the face was received, and a vermillion-clad teen stormed out of the room more upset then what was expected.

For some strange reason, however, Guy couldn't bring himself to remember anything from the second reality other then Sync's elegant smile underneath his filthy mask of lies.

(x)

"You have a mission."

"What?"

"You. Have. A _mission_."

He caught it perfectly the first time, Mr. Insensitive. The man in questioning here was no one less then the Commandant of the Oracle Knights, the Savior of many a mortal, and slayer of just as many, if not more, and the whole entire cause to the effect that was known as Guy's fucked up life. He was about six foot three, not too gracious on the thin side, but with plenty enough muscle to drag himself around, and facial hair with presumed magical abilities.

He was Van Grants; he was the Satan that literally walked the ground in both body and soul.

Guy was hoping to just get in and out of this situation, but the blonde was obviously never on the favorable side of Lady Luck.

(x)

DONE!

Gah, sorry for taking so long, and it being so short. D;

The next one will be -not only- the mission, but also the introduction of three characters! (Can you guess?) If you want to know, it's Anise, Tear, and Tokunaga. (Tokunaga is no longer just a doll!) Yeah, I totally have too much free time on my hands. ; Q ;


	4. Four

Dream chaser

Note: I was feeling a bit humorous for this chapter.

Headphone does not own.

(x)

CHAPTER 4;

"So, what would this mission be?"

"Excellent grammar, for starters," Obviously, sarcasm was just another talent that the commandant possessed, not excluding world domination and rape. "And it's nothing more then an information gathering trip." The words spewed from the devil's mouth so carefully, and it seemed like everything in and of it was articulated with a syllable of evil. If Guy had cared about anything any more then he did, he may have noticed that the older male's eyebrows were twitching all the while saying this, or that his 'beard' was looking a little bit on the less powerful side. But, as it would be, the Cunning could hardly give half a rat's ass over the mystical facial hair that his superior had.

The younger male tapped his left foot to the tempo of his heart –if he were on steroids- and began in a long process of boring bored holes into the ugly-haired commandant's wrinkled eyes. If the commandant were not so afflicted with attempting to find the –completely useless, mind you- paperwork for the mission, he may have realized the glare, but as it turns out, he didn't cast his gaze upward, and he didn't realize the hatred brewing in the blonde's gut.

After a millennia and a half, the ugly-haired superior raised his eyes, completely ignoring the obvious hate-waves that were spewing from Guy's existence, and handed the aforementioned blonde a slip of seemingly harmless paper that he knew would be the God-General's 'best friend', if he could remember the term properly.

"This, Gailardia, is your mission. You leave at noon." A heavy silence engulfed the room for the briefest of moments before the aforementioned Gailardia could fully come to his grips over the time of day that it truly was.

"Commandant, it _is _noon."He could feel his eyes rolling almost automatically, but tried his absolute hardest to try and control his sarcastic tendencies.

"Then you leave now!"

Before the younger male had even the slightest chance to get his proper bearings, he was given the boot out of the Commandant's office and a door slammed mere millimeters away from his face. If Guy were any less of a man, he may have pulled a face of dislike, or even whined a little bit about how this whole 'mission' thing sucked, but as he was as much of a man as he was, he simply shrugged it all of and looked at the paper at hand. The first thing that he truly noticed was the person under which he was to be accompanied by.

It was at that dullest of moments that he decided to make a face and whine about the mission.

No amount of man could fully _want_ to go do what he had to do; and this wasn't even the mission part of it! It was the prerequisite, if you would call it that, and it was the exact opposite of what he would have honestly called _pleasant_. He was forced to go find his subordinate, his attendant, his back-up trooper for every emergency under the letters A-Z;

Anise Tatlin.

"Man, this is just great." He was everything and anything short of willing, at this point. Though, despite his disapproval for his support, he continued to skim the paper, a bit curious as to what the whole purpose of the mission was about, considering that the mission was located in St. Binah, of all places.

'Didn't Sync say something about it being destroyed before by a Hyperreasonance? Yeah, I'm sure he said something about a Dual-Hyperreasonance with Akzeriuth and St. Binah being destroyed.' Pride filled his veins for remembering anything from his study sessions with the olive-haired Tempest, but if he had been paying attention for maybe just five minutes more, he may have been able to recall that, despite the God-Generals and Van _wanting_ St. Binah to be destroyed, to eradicate a vital point of Malkuth's defenses, it would have been highly suspicious to just let the stronghold go to waste while they were busy working in areas that were not even miles away from it. It was truly a complicated affair that the God-Generals ran just to keep their head-honcho happy, and despite wanting to just get their celebration cake of the world being destroyed, they still had to keep the entire scheme under wraps until the time was deamed 'right' by the Commandant.

Despite how much Guy hated to follow through with the task, he had to simply buckle up and get it done; after all, how much could it hurt?

(x)

"Excuse me; do you know where Anise Tatlin would be?"

That would the fortieth time that Guy had asked someone, and despite everyone being jolly about answering him, they were always _**wrong**_.

"I believe I last saw her in the Library, or at least heading there." The man in questioning this time had a nice, flabby neck, and despite how much Guy wanted to punch him in it, he kept his cool and listened to the man's inaccurate answers. It would have helped a _whole lot more_ if Guy hadn't been forced to find the little brat within three seconds of leaving for the mission. Though, despite how much the God-General would have loved to have a couple of hours before departure, the commandant was a cruel sadist who spent his time making everyone else's lives a living hell.

"I was just in there, and she wasn't there."

"Are you sure? Well, maybe you should go check Tokunaga's room; she's constantly playing with him in there." Guy did a double take, then another, just to simply check that he wasn't dreaming like before because, as far as he knew, Tokunaga was nothing more than a mindless, fighting doll that Anise used to fight with. With the world record in mind, Guy asked for directions to said doll's room and set off sprinting for it, hardly even conscious of the fact that the destination in mind was almost directly adjacent from where Ion made his lodgings. Three flights of stairs cleared, and teleportation device turned into swift history, and Guy was left out of breath right outside of the door of promises.

This door of promises, as it would be, had a sign on it -which was obviously made by someone who was younger then the age of ten- that said 'please knock before entering'. Obeying the overly omnipotent law of the sign, the blonde's knuckles collided with the metal door, creating a loud, hollow sound that echoed throughout the –surprisingly short- corridor. He let out his breath after knocking, hardly even aware he was holding it.

"Yes, who is it?" The voice from inside was exceedingly feminine, and for the briefest of moments, Guy was thoroughly terrified. Though, despite the terror that was fueling within his gut, every muscle relaxed almost immediately when curly brown hair and innocent eyes came into view from behind the metallic door. If the blonde had even half of a heart used for any sort of maternal instinct, he would have noticed that, despite the calmness that the small teen portrayed, she was fully horrified to see the male with, what she believed was a, no, it couldn't be, a _smile_ on his lips. That being said, he simply smiled wider when he noticed she was worried, hoping for it to relax her a bit. Much to his dismay, the effect it had on her was quiet the opposite. Noticing the girl's state of mind, which he quickly concluded was a direct result of his pleasant emotions, he quickly halted the smile altogether, noticing her face quickly decrease in fear factor.

"Anise, we've got a mission." Nonchalance filled his voice, and almost immediately, the aforementioned brunette was aware that this wasn't the Guy that she had come to know; that she had come to fear so prominently.

"Is it true, about the -" Her voice was hardly audible above the deafening silence, and Guy simply hummed a quizzical response, gesturing that he hadn't heard her clearly.

"Is it true," she swallowed loudly, shifting her vibrant eyes from side to side as though nervous. "Is it true what Sync said? Is it true that you have amnesia?" A heavy pang of guilt hit Guy almost straight through the chest, and if he had any idea that this was what she was so afraid about, he would have hastily calmed her concerns.

"No, I didn't forget _everything_. I still remember you, Sync, and a lot of other things. It's just, I remember them differently. Like, I don't remember Sync ever saying anything more then a few insults before storming off, or how I don't remember Van ever being as pushy as he is." She took that opportunity to scoff, almost amused that her superior was making jokes about his own superior, but quickly quieted herself, knowing how much trouble she would be in for making fun of the commandant, even if he _was_ pushier then a narcotics-addict.

"Guy, you still remember Toku, right?" Anise's voice was washy, uncertain, and from what the aforementioned blonde could tell from her body language, she was bracing herself for the absolute worst. The Cunning, knowing manners like the back of his hand, chose to sugarcoat his response, looking every which way as to ignore the teen's hoping stare, and add some sort of backbone to the structure of his lies.

"Well, I remember 'm, sort of, just not as well I would normally." The last word was slurred out, almost as his voice was failing him, just as his eyes were. A figure, which the cinnamon-eyed girl referred to as 'Toku' appeared behind her, a striking 5 foot 9, and a face that was as innocent and pure as the driven snow.

A face that was as similar to the Fon Master's as Sync and Florian, the only true difference between this newly introduced replica and the others being that his hair was not of the same olive, but more of a sienna-shade brown. If Guy had thought about the 'Doll's characteristics much longer, he may have been able to connect the dots, what with the way he had stitch-like scars all up his face, totaling all but four. But, as it was, he preferred to leave his mind an empty vessel of ignorance for at least some time longer.

"You remember Tokunaga, right, Guy?" The girl's innocent, almost terrified voice broke the Cunning's thought process, not allowing him to fully comprehend all of the facts that shrouded the young male. Though, it was lucky for him that she had cut his thoughts off when she did, because if he thought about it for much longer, she may have realized that his brain was all but frying as she spoke. Slightly put off, Guy simply returned his gaze from the humanoid 'doll' to the cinnamon-eyed girl, noticing a hint of concern in her eyes.

"Ah, yes, it's just, I remember him a bit… differently." A bead of sweat trailed down the side of his face, and he could feel his hands becoming clammy. After all, dodging bullets wasn't exactly easy when it came to nosy, curious little thirteen-year-olds who acted like they were ten.

"Oh, well, I suppose that isn't _all_ bad, y'know?" She brought a thoughtful fist up to her chin, acting as though she was thinking about something a bit more important than memories of a coma-victim. Another bead of sweat rolled down the back of Guy's neck, this time a bit more out of relief then anything, considering how he had _certainly_ avoided a mental breakdown of his supposed partner. "Well, it's better than nothing, right?"

The boy behind her simply nodded, his lips pressed into smile for her.

"Well, anyway," Guy lifted the paper in his hand, now a slightly crumbled mess, considering the fact that he had to walk all over creation just to locate the girl. "We've got a mission. . Van says it's a civil mission, just to get me back in business, but go grab your weapon anyway." After reiterating his reason for coming, the pepper-haired girl gave a half-assed salute, returning into the room merrily, humming something indistinguishable.

"You're not the same person you were before." Tokunaga's face may have been innocent, but it was clear that his heart was far from naïve. His voice was far harsher than the Fon Master's, and it was by no means as dark as Sync's, but it still had this sort of deepness to it that neither of them possessed – a sense of reality, if you would dare to call it that- and it sent a chill down the older male's spine.

"Guess it's that obvious, isn't it?" With a toothy grin, he tried to simply laugh it off, but it was almost obvious, both by the dead-serious look on the cinnamon-haired boy's face, and the tenseness in the air, that this was hardly something that was going to just be overlooked.

"Well, when you answered that you remembered things differently, I knew there was something wrong. The old you would never admit that anything was ever wrong. Not to mention…" He cut off, almost as though to just add to the mood of suspense that so heavily engulfed the air.

"What?" He was sweating again.

"You smiled. In the two years that I've known you, I've only seen you smile maybe twice, both of them while," He paused, uncertain how to break the news of the older male's past self to him. "going crazy bashing someone's skull in with your heel." Not only did Guy want to empty the contents of his stomach upon hearing this, but he also felt a bit disgusted with himself, for acting like such a heartless, ruthless bastard.

"You were once called Guy the Bloody, only once, because the only person who dared to call you that was simply cut short from his life as you tore through his jugular."

Scratch wanting to empty the contents of his lunch, since Guy was currently in the process of doing so in one of the trashcans that the Order had so conveniently –and almost obnoxiously- placed throughout the halls of the maze that was Oracle HQ. It took several long moments to finally purge his stomach of all of the self-loathing he felt within himself, but eventually, the retching came to a final halt. The blonde wasn't sure if there was a hand patting his stomach through the vomiting or not, but even if it wasn't there, the feeling enough was comforting.

"Okay, I'm ready to go, Guy."

And despite how much Guy wanted to believe otherwise, he knew that somewhere in his other self's life, he had most likely destroyed Anise's innocence, and -despite the yearning- he couldn't find any more effort in him to hate himself more.

(x)

The ride from Daath to St. Binah was long, silent, and tense. Sure, Noelle driving the Albiore was a bit of a comforting fact for the discontent blonde, especially considering the actual _existence_ of an Albiore, but the uncomfortable tension in the air made the aforementioned God General want to kill himself. This was _Anise_, after all; the sunny girl with an unending love for money and the fon master. The thought of just what had happened between his other self and Anise made his stomach churn and his blood boil, because he knew that, at some point or another, he had most likely stole her innocence, and it disgusted him.

"Anise," A hesitant start, but it was a start nonetheless.

"Yes? What is it, Guy?"

"What did I do in the past? I mean," He swallowed some of his pride. "You looked so scared of me when I saw you. Did I do something that made you afraid of me? I just, I want to know." Despite how Guy was trying to come across as sincerely curious, Anise looked like she was absolutely terrified, but tried to cover it up with a look of shallow confidence.

"It's, uh, it's nothing. I'm fine." Her expression changed from absolute terror to a false serenity, but Guy knew that she was still terrified on the inside, considering how her foot was tapping so quickly on the Albiore's wooden panels.

"Alright, but," He covered his concern with a friendly smile, only to revert it when he noticed Anise's false smile falter. "If you ever want to talk to me about anything like that, I'm all ears." If there was anything he wanted, it was to show to her that whatever nightmare he used to be was in his past, and that he would never do anything to hurt her again. He wanted to show her that so badly, but he was so terribly afraid that pushing the issue would scare her stiff.

"Okay." And then silence. It was clear from her features that she wanted to say something, that she was just trying to find the words, but whatever it was, it wasn't going to be happening soon. Her fists were clenched as tight as her mouth, and with her eyebrows in such a tight furrow, the blonde was surprised that she hadn't hurt herself from thinking too hard. For what seemed like an ice age and a half, she sat there, pensive, and he would just steal glances between her and Tokunaga as he tried to telepathically coerce her. Apparently, some part of that was working, because she eventually did spill a little.

"Actually, I, uh," Anise started, her voice timid and her facial features unsure. "I wanted to tell you, um, about the first day I met you." Tokunaga gave her a look, asking her without words whether or not she was comfortable, and she simply flashed him a sad smile in response.

"It was almost two years ago, I was 11. I had just got done with my training for the day, and on my way home, I had gone into the alley I usually went through. But, on that day, there was a man waiting there for me, harassing me. I was able to take care of myself just fine, but out of the blue, you show up, sword in tow." Swallowing away some of her disgust, she continued. "The man wouldn't leave me be, you asked me if I was alright, but before I could answer, the man had gotten up, placed his hand on my shoulder, and you," Her eyes became wide with fear, her body almost shaking "you cut the man's arm off. He screamed in pain, and all you did in response to that was stab your sword into his stomach. There was so much blood, and I was practically begging you to stop, but all you did to hear my plea was to remove your sword from his waist and," At this point, she was actually shaking from the trauma, Tokunaga holding her as she finished her recollection of the horrific memory "decapitate him. After that, I was a sobbing mess, and the only thing you did to help me was to literally throw me over your shoulder and carry me home."

Guy felt like he was going to be sick again.

"Anise, I" She immediately gave him a fearful look. "I'm so sorry." Despite how much everything was telling him that he should _not_, in fact touch her in away manner, the back of his mind was screaming 'console her', so that's exactly what he did. The Cunning took the whole three paces between the two of them, and hugged her as tightly as he would ever hug any female ever again. While it did practically send his heart rate through the roof, concerning his Gynophobia, he figured that this was the very least he could do for her. "I'm so sorry, for everything awful that I've ever done to you, or anyone else. I'm so goddamn sorry."

While it wasn't the scenario he had been preparing himself for, Guy couldn't help but still loathe himself for what he had done.

(x)

I know I promised Tear in this chapter, but FUCK HER. I'm sick of looking at this in my folder, and know it's unfinished. This was simply because I know people are DYING for an update. (Goddamn I'm slow)

And while it isn't much, I hope you enjoy it. (Also, excuse the silliness in the beginning, I have absolutely no idea what I was doing when I wrote it.)

The next update probably won't be for just as long, considering I'm always busy with Homestuck. But, if I can, I'll squeeze in a couple hours out of my animal-crossing-playing-time to write some more. Or I'll work on it in my creative writing class. Probably that last one, since I love Animal crossing toooo much.


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